Samsung Electronics has commenced shipments of its newest high-bandwidth memory product, HBM4, marking the company as the first worldwide to mass produce and distribute this latest generation of high-performance memory.
The South Korean technology firm announced its intention to push for a leading position in the HBM4 market after lagging behind rivals in recent quarters. The company did not disclose which customers have placed orders for the HBM4 modules, noting only that these products serve as a key memory component for artificial-intelligence chips.
As the world’s largest memory-chip manufacturer, Samsung faces competition mainly from SK Hynix and Micron Technology. The company has been pursuing a role as a principal HBM4 supplier to Nvidia, while concurrently boosting its own production footprint for HBM4 devices.
SK Hynix has said it finished development of its own HBM4 offerings and is preparing to ship them, and it has been a dominant supplier for earlier versions of high-bandwidth memory. The race among memory vendors is unfolding amid rapid expansion in the global AI chip market, which is intensifying pressure on HBM suppliers to scale output and accelerate innovation.
Samsung projects that revenue from its HBM business will more than triple in 2026 and is taking proactive steps to enlarge HBM4 production capacity. In addition to current shipments, the company plans to deliver an upgraded HBM4 sample product, named HBM4E, in the second half of the year.
Details about customers, precise production volumes, pricing, and the timing of broader commercial rollouts were not provided in the company announcement. Similarly, no additional operational or contractual information was disclosed regarding Samsung’s relationship with target customers for HBM4 modules.
Sector impact - The development primarily affects the semiconductor sector, particularly memory-chip suppliers and AI-hardware makers that rely on high-bandwidth memory. Changes in HBM supply and capacity can also influence downstream markets for AI accelerators and data-center hardware.