Today’s Highlights
- Declining utilization rate, Samsung reduces HBM3E production
- Samsung Electronics may face significant losses in Q2
- HBM and NAND shipments exceed expectations
- SK Hynix launches its first PCIe 5.0 SSD
- SK Hynix supplies HBM to two major giants
- HBM dedicated equipment TC Bonder 4 unveiled
01 Declining Utilization Rate, Samsung Reduces HBM3E Production
Samsung Electronics has cut the production of 12-layer HBM3E by the end of Q2.
Originally planned to supply Nvidia by mid-year, the uncertainty in demand for the second half has increased due to delays in negotiations.
Samsung has reverted to a conservative management policy to mitigate the risk of inventory surges.
Reportedly, the utilization rate of the 12-layer HBM3E production line has dropped to half.
The average monthly production of 12-layer HBM3E in Q2 was expected to be 70,000 to 80,000 wafers. However, production has significantly decreased to 30,000 to 40,000 wafers per month by the end of Q2.
As the HBM4 market is expected to start in the first half of next year, Samsung Electronics maintains a conservative production stance.
Timely commercialization of HBM4 is also a crucial task.
Samsung Electronics is focusing on the core chip of HBM4, the 1c (6th generation 10nm) DRAM development, and has begun modifying some circuits to improve stability.
It is expected that the 1c DRAM for HBM will receive PRA (Production Readiness Approval) in Q3.
02 Samsung Electronics May Face Significant Losses in Q2
Samsung Electronics is expected to see a double-digit decline in operating profit year-on-year for Q2.
This is due to continued poor performance in the profitable HBM sector, while losses persist in the memory sector.
The strength of the Korean won in the exchange rate market has also had an impact.
The DS division may have a profit of 2 trillion won, more than doubling quarter-on-quarter, leading the performance growth, but the NAND and foundry sectors are underperforming.
Sales for Q2 are expected to be around 76 trillion won, with operating profit around 6 trillion won.
Compared to the same period last year, sales have slightly increased, but operating profit has decreased by about 30%.
The DS division’s sales are expected to be 26.28 trillion won, with memory sales around 20.22 trillion won and operating profit around 4.6 trillion won.
Last year, Samsung Electronics reported sales of 74.7 trillion won and operating profit of 10.4 trillion won in Q2.
Analysts believe that while the fixed prices of general DRAM have risen across the board, expectations have been lowered further due to the significant drop in the won against the dollar.
However, some observers believe that performance may rebound starting in Q3.
After passing through the off-season in Q2 and entering Q3, profit growth rates are expected to rise, influenced not only by the overall price increase of DRAM but also by news of HBM testing.
The quarterly operating profit for the DS division in Q3 and Q4 is expected to be between 4 trillion and 5 trillion won.
Only the two major cash cows, mobile and semiconductor, can truly drive good performance for Samsung.
03 HBM and NAND Shipments Exceed Expectations
SK Hynix’s sales in Q2 are expected to grow by 20% quarter-on-quarter, reaching 21.1 trillion won, with operating profit increasing by 22% to 9.1 trillion won.
This exceeds expectations. HBM and NAND shipments are expected to surpass forecasts.
Due to the lower-than-expected increase in general DRAM sales prices, the blended average selling price has increased by 3% quarter-on-quarter.
DRAM sales and operating profit are expected to grow by 21% and 29% respectively compared to the previous quarter, reaching 17 trillion won and 9.7 trillion won.
Operating profit in the DRAM sector is expected to exceed 10 trillion won for the first time in Q3.
Sales in Q3 are expected to grow by 3%, reaching 21.7 trillion won, with operating profit increasing by 7% to 9.7 trillion won.
DRAM sales are expected to grow by 3% quarter-on-quarter, reaching 17.5 trillion won, with operating profit increasing by 4% to 10.1 trillion won.
It is expected that the growth rate will increase by 5%, with the supply of 12hi HBM3E increasing, but market share is declining due to Micron’s entry.
General DRAM is expected to grow by 3%, HBM by 4%, and blended average selling price by 1%.
Additionally, NAND sales are expected to grow by 2%, reaching 3.7 trillion won, with an operating loss of 0.3 trillion won (continuing losses).
However, concerns about SK Hynix’s monopoly in the HBM market will intensify in the second half of the year.
This is because competitors like Micron and Samsung Electronics are expected to accelerate their market entry.
SK Hynix’s strong performance in the HBM sector continues, and its stock price has been rising. However, Micron is expected to enter the HBM3E market in the second half of the year, and Samsung Electronics will also begin providing samples of HBM4.
Concerns about SK Hynix maintaining its monopoly market position will increase, which may limit further price increases.
04 SK Hynix Launches Its First PCIe 5.0 SSD
SK Hynix’s first consumer-grade PCIe 5.0 SSD has finally landed in the US market—the Platinum P51, with speeds up to 14,700 MB/s.
As the next generation of the highly acclaimed Platinum P41, the Platinum P51 has been launched.
The Platinum P51 was exclusively released in South Korea last December and has taken a long journey to reach the US market.
It uses SK Hynix’s self-developed PCIe 5.0 SSD controller.
Alistar ACNT093, an eight-channel architecture, supports transfer rates of up to 2,400 MT/s.
Manufactured using a 10nm process, the Arm 32-bit Cortex-R8 processor is likely provided by TSMC.
SK Hynix combines the ACNT093 controller with 238-layer 3D V8 TLC NAND.
This is a significant upgrade compared to the 176-layer NAND used in the previous generation Platinum P41.
Equipped with LPDDR4 DRAM, but the capacity has not been disclosed.
The Platinum P51 M.2 2280 SSD is available in two capacities: 1TB and 2TB.
Sequential read speeds reach up to 14,700 MB/s. However, sequential write performance varies by capacity, with the 2TB model reaching a maximum of 13,400 MB/s, and the 1TB model’s sequential write performance being 4% lower.
Random performance is comparable, with both achieving random read and write speeds of up to 2,300,000 IOPS and 2,400,000 IOPS respectively.
The performance data of the Platinum P51 is comparable to that of Sandisk WD Black SN8100, Samsung 9100 Pro, or Crucial T705.
The endurance of the 1TB version is 600 TBW, while the 2TB version is 1200 TBW.
The endurance of the Platinum P51 is comparable to Kioxia’s 218-layer BiCS8 and Samsung’s 236-layer V8 TLC NAND.
It also offers a five-year warranty.
The pricing is highly competitive, with the 1TB version priced at $169.99 and the 2TB version at $269.99.
Compared to Sandisk WD Black SN8100, Samsung 9100 Pro, and Crucial T705, the Platinum P51 offers better value for money.
05 SK Hynix Supplies HBM to Two Major Giants
Following Nvidia, SK Hynix has become the largest HBM supplier for Amazon and Google.
SK Hynix has secured 40% of the supply of 8-layer HBM3E used in Amazon Web Services (AWS) AI accelerators Trainium 2.5 and Trainium 3, and is supplying Google’s AI chip TPU v7p model as a “major supplier”.
As the AI accelerator market expands among large tech companies, SK Hynix’s market share in HBM is expected to further increase.
SK Hynix is also the sole supplier of 12-layer HBM3E products for the next-generation model TPU v7e.
SK Hynix has made significant progress in securing large tech customers, with competitors like Samsung Electronics attempting to supply, but SK Hynix holds the upper hand in negotiations.
SK Hynix is negotiating with Nvidia regarding HBM supply for next year.
The market size for proprietary AI accelerators is expected to grow from $12 billion last year to $30 billion by 2027.
This is because large tech companies are accelerating the development of AI chips to reduce reliance on Nvidia.
06 HBM Dedicated Equipment TC Bonder 4 Unveiled
Hanmi Semiconductor will begin producing the dedicated equipment “TC Bonder 4” for the next-generation AI semiconductor core memory HBM4.
TC Bonder 4 is a new device released in May and will start full-scale supply in the second half of the year.
Global HBM manufacturers plan to mass-produce the sixth generation of HBM (HBM4) in the second half of the year.
Hanmi Semiconductor stated that TC Bonder 4 has significantly improved precision compared to the previous generation, meeting the high precision requirements of HBM4, while enhancing the structural stability of stacked HBM.
Additionally, software functions have been upgraded to improve user convenience. Compared to the existing fifth generation (HBM3E), HBM4 shows significant performance improvements, with speed increased by 60% and power consumption reduced by 70%.
The maximum number of stacked layers can reach 16 layers, with each DRAM capacity expanded from 24Gb to 32Gb.
The number of data transmission channel silicon through-vias (TSV) has also increased to 2,048, double that of the previous generation, significantly enhancing the data transfer speed between processors and memory.
To ensure that TC Bonder 4 can smoothly meet the global memory companies’ HBM4 mass production plans, a mass production system has been established. Through the supply of this dedicated equipment for HBM4, it will maintain a leading position in the global AI semiconductor market.
Hanmi Semiconductor, established in 1980, is a global semiconductor equipment company with approximately 320 customers worldwide.
Since establishing its intellectual property department in 2002, the company has been dedicated to protecting and enhancing intellectual property, having applied for a total of 120 patents for HBM equipment to date.
Hanmi Semiconductor holds over 90% market share in the TC bonding machine market used for the production of the fifth generation HBM (HBM3E) 12-layer.
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