Samsung Electronics Executive Vice President Kim Taewoo projected on 29 September that HBM would use nearly 30 per cent of wafer capacity across DRAM producers in 2027, against about 20 per cent currently, Reuters reported.
Kim said HBM and standard DRAM compete for the same wafer capacity. Expanding HBM output could therefore constrain the supply of standard DRAM, he said. His projection covers capacity across DRAM chipmakers, while the potential constraint concerns the conventional memory produced using those wafers.
HBM consists of memory chips stacked vertically, allowing processors to access large amounts of data at high speed. It is a crucial component for AI computing. Kim’s forecast would put a greater share of the industry’s wafer capacity into making that type of memory.
The HBM market is dominated by South Korea’s SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, alongside US-based Micron Technology. Those companies make the memory type at the centre of Kim’s industry-wide capacity forecast.
