Chinese technology giants including Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Baidu Inc (百度) as well as start-ups are stockpiling high bandwidth memory (HBM) semiconductors from Samsung Electronics Co in anticipation of US curbs on exports of the chips to China, three sources said.
The companies have ramped up their buying of the artificial intelligence (AI) capable semiconductors since early this year, helping China account for about 30 percent of Samsung’s HBM chip revenue in the first half of this year, one of the sources said.
US authorities are planning to unveil an export-control package this month that would impose new restrictions on shipments for China’s semiconductor industry, reports from last week said, citing sources.
Photo: Bloomberg
Those sources also said the package is expected to lay out parameters for restricting HBM chip access.
HBM chips are crucial components in developing advanced processors such as Nvidia Corp’s graphics processing units that can be used for generative AI work.
There are only three major chipmakers producing HBM chips — SK Hynix Inc and Samsung from South Korea, and US-based Micron Technology Inc.
Chinese chip demand has been largely focused on the HBM2E model, which is two generations behind the most advanced version HBM3E, the sources said.
The global AI boom has led to a tightness in supply of the advanced model.
“Given that its domestic technology development is not yet fully mature, China’s demand for Samsung’s HBM has become exceptionally high, as other manufacturers’ capacities are already fully booked by American AI companies,” White Oak Capital Partners Pte Ltd investment director Nori Chiou said in Singapore.
Although it is hard to estimate the volume or value of the stockpiled HBM chips in China, businesses ranging from satellite manufacturers to tech firms such as Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊) have been buying them, the sources said.
One of the sources said that chip designing start-up Beijing Haawking Technology Co (北京中科昊芯) recently ordered HBM chips from Samsung.
Meanwhile, Huawei has been using Samsung HBM2E semiconductors to make its advanced Ascend AI chip, one of the sources said.
Chinese firms have made some headway in producing HBM, with Huawei and memory chipmaker Changxin Xinqiao Memory Technologies Inc (長鑫存儲) focusing on developing HBM2 chips, which are three generations behind the HBM3E model, earlier reports said.
Those efforts could be affected by the new US rule.
Restrictions on HBM sales to China could have a bigger effect on Samsung than its key rivals, which rely less on the Chinese market, said the sources who were briefed on the sales.
Micron has refrained from selling its HBM products to China since last year, while SK Hynix, whose major HBM customers include Nvidia, focuses more on advanced HBM chip production, they said.
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