Samsung and TSMC team up for NVIDIA custom HBM

NVIDIA's proprietary HBM solution brought two rivals of the semiconductor world to the same table. On the other hand, it is claimed that Samsung and TSMC have joined forces to develop the base die of the memory called NVHBM on the 3nm node. HBM stands for high bandwidth memory. Additionally, the base die is the underlying chip that sits beneath the stacked memory layers and handles the control work.

Until now, Samsung had adopted HBM's "turnkey" approach in both core and base die production. However, NVIDIA's custom memory wants a simpler production chain. That's why the two companies are working together for a standard product that will reduce quality verification steps.

Why does NVIDIA custom HBM require a single process?

It was stated that special HBM would be used for Feynman GPUs. NVIDIA says this solution offers up to 30 percent more memory bandwidth than standard HBM4E. Bandwidth is the amount of data that memory can transfer in a certain period of time. Additionally, power consumption will be 15 percent lower at most.

However, for these advantages to work, standardization among memory manufacturers is required. That's why it is reported that NVIDIA asked Samsung, Micron and SK hynix to produce the base die in TSMC's 3nm process. The core die has to be based on 1c, the sixth generation DRAM process. So for NVIDIA custom HBM, all three manufacturers will use the same basic chip.

If a single process is used, NVIDIA will not have to verify each vendor's instance separately. Thus, time and resources will be saved. Moreover, the ultimate goal is to achieve consistent performance across all manufacturers. Because the value of NVIDIA custom HBM design depends on providing the same result across different suppliers.

Samsung's stance and TSMC's statement

It is reported that Samsung accepted this request. Moreover, this will be the first example of the Korean giant moving away from the "turnkey" model. Still, the company continues to evaluate its own foundry if NVIDIA custom HBM demand exceeds TSMC's capacity.

Core and base die development of standard HBM will continue at Samsung. However, since the demand is very high, it is stated that Samsung is open to a temporary alliance with TSMC.

Finally, NVIDIA asked TSMC not only to produce the NVHBM base die but also to start producing 3D DRAM. TSMC responded quickly. The company announced that it has no plans to mass produce 3D DRAM and will remain in logic chip production.

In addition, HBM plays an important role in Samsung's reduction of foundry losses. According to an earlier estimate, the company's losses fell 41 percent in a single year. As a matter of fact, while the figure was 6.74 trillion won (5.1 billion dollars) in 2025, it decreased to 3.92 trillion won (2.95 billion dollars) in 2026.