SK hynix Begins Mass Production of HBM3E, the World's First Fifth-Generation High Bandwidth Memory for AI

SK hynix Inc. has begun mass production of its latest high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, the HBM3E, becoming the world's first provider of the product and reinforcing its leadership in the high-performance memory semiconductors used for artificial intelligence. The South Korean chipmaker, a major supplier to Nvidia Corp., said the HBM3E is built from the best-performing DRAM chips and delivers industry-leading speed and heat control for AI systems.

Macro photograph of stacked memory chip packages on a dark substrate beside a precision inspection microscope

Industry-first HBM3E moves into mass production

On March 19, 2024, SK hynix announced that it had started mass production of the fifth-generation HBM3E, seven months after it unveiled the product's development in August. The company said it is the first provider of HBM3E in the world, and that volume production will extend the earlier commercial success it achieved with the previous HBM3 generation. High bandwidth memory is known for the vertical interconnection of multiple DRAM chips, a design that significantly raises data-processing speed and makes HBM an indispensable memory component for AI systems such as OpenAI's ChatGPT.

Performance tuned for AI workloads

SK hynix said the new HBM3E is the industry's best in all of the aspects required of an AI memory, including speed and heat control. The product processes up to 1.18 terabytes of data per second, which the company described as equivalent to handling more than 230 full-HD movies, each 5 gigabytes in size, in a single second.

World-first mass production of HBM3E, the fifth-generation high bandwidth memory, announced March 19, 2024.
Development of the HBM3E was unveiled in August, seven months before volume production began.
Built from the best-performing DRAM chips; extends the success of the previous HBM3 generation.
Data throughput of up to 1.18 terabytes per second.
Equivalent to processing more than 230 full-HD movies of 5 gigabytes each per second.
Vertical stacking of multiple DRAM dies accelerates data processing for AI systems.

A supplier within the AI semiconductor supply chain

SK hynix is a major supplier to Nvidia Corp., the U.S. AI semiconductor powerhouse, positioning the chipmaker within the supply chain behind today's AI accelerators and data-center hardware. By moving the HBM3E into volume production, the company aims to convert its early lead in high bandwidth memory into a broader role across the AI memory market.

Management comment

"With the success story of the HBM business and the strong partnership with customers that it has built for years, SK hynix will cement its position as the total AI memory provider," said Ryoo Sung-soo, head of the HBM business at SK hynix.