Samsung Electronics Co shares jumped 4.47 percent yesterday after reports it has won approval from Nvidia Corp for the use of advanced high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, which marks a breakthrough for the South Korean technology leader.
The stock closed at 83,500 won in Seoul, the highest since July 31 last year. Yesterday’s gain comes after local media, including the Korea Economic Daily, reported that Samsung’s 12-layer HBM3E product recently passed Nvidia’s qualification tests.
That clears the components for use in the artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators essential to the training of AI models from ChatGPT to DeepSeek (深度求索), and finally allows Samsung to compete with SK Hynix Inc with higher-end products.
Photo: AFP
Samsung has made headway with its latest generations of chips and should gain final certification on HBM3E from Nvidia soon, people familiar with the matter said.
The South Korean company has redoubled efforts this year to catch up with local rival SK Hynix and Micron Technology Inc of the US in the provision of HBM, which is designed to work in tandem with the powerful Nvidia chips that Meta Platforms Inc and OpenAI employ to train and operate AI services.
Samsung shares are up about 20 percent this month on expectations that commodity memory chips — where Samsung still leads — would face supply shortages next year, thanks to AI demand. Global funds bought more than US$2 billion worth of Samsung this month.
While reports of Samsung passing Nvidia’s tests have cropped up this year, investors are putting more stock in such talk, 19 months after the development of the product and after several delays.
The company has also entered other areas of the chip market. In July, a surprise US$16.5 billion chipmaking deal with Tesla Inc breathed new life into a foundry or contract-manufacturing business all but written off by many investors.
Samsung’s shipment volumes to Nvidia should remain small this year as Nvidia’s orders have already been filled by rivals SK Hynix and Micron. Yet that is still a big step for Samsung, whose HBM delays have raised questions around its technology leadership. While investors have generally low expectations after those hiccups, Nvidia’s approval would still be a positive for Samsung, Goldman Sachs Group Inc analysts wrote.
If confirmed, “it would be a clear indication that the company is able to meet the highest standard in the HBM industry,” Goldman Sachs analyst Giuni Lee said. It “therefore could also mean that the probability for HBM4 qualification from the same customer could rise.”
TECH TITAN: Pandemic-era demand for semiconductors turbocharged the nation’s GDP per capita to surpass South Korea’s, but it still remains half that of Singapore Taiwan is set to surpass South Korea this year in terms of wealth for the first time in more than two decades, marking a shift in Asia’s economic ranks made possible by the ascent of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電). According to the latest forecasts released on Thursday by the central bank, Taiwan’s GDP is expected to expand 4.55 percent this year, a further upward revision from the 4.45 percent estimate made by the statistics bureau last month. The growth trajectory puts Taiwan on track to exceed South Korea’s GDP per capita — a key measure of living standards — a
Samsung Electronics Co shares jumped 4.47 percent yesterday after reports it has won approval from Nvidia Corp for the use of advanced high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, which marks a breakthrough for the South Korean technology leader. The stock closed at 83,500 won in Seoul, the highest since July 31 last year. Yesterday’s gain comes after local media, including the Korea Economic Daily, reported that Samsung’s 12-layer HBM3E product recently passed Nvidia’s qualification tests. That clears the components for use in the artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators essential to the training of AI models from ChatGPT to DeepSeek (深度求索), and finally allows Samsung
READY TO HELP: Should TSMC require assistance, the government would fully cooperate in helping to speed up the establishment of the Chiayi plant, an official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said its investment plans in Taiwan are “unchanged” amid speculation that the chipmaker might have suspended construction work on its second chip packaging plant in Chiayi County and plans to move equipment arranged for the plant to the US. The Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported earlier yesterday that TSMC had halted the construction of the chip packaging plant, which was scheduled to be completed next year and begin mass production in 2028. TSMC did not directly address whether construction of the plant had halted, but said its investment plans in Taiwan remain “unchanged.” The chipmaker started
MORTGAGE WORRIES: About 34% of respondents to a survey said they would approach multiple lenders to pay for a home, while 29.2% said they would ask family for help New housing projects in Taiwan’s six special municipalities, as well as Hsinchu city and county, are projected to total NT$710.65 billion (US$23.61 billion) in the upcoming fall sales season, a record 30 percent decrease from a year earlier, as tighter mortgage rules prompt developers to pull back, property listing platform 591.com (591新建案) said yesterday. The number of projects has also fallen to 312, a more than 20 percent decrease year-on-year, underscoring weakening sentiment and momentum amid lingering policy and financing headwinds. New Taipei City and Taoyuan bucked the downturn in project value, while Taipei, Hsinchu city and county, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung
RSS