AMD's CEO, Lisa Su, and her visit to South Korea were apparently aimed at securing HBM4 supply from Samsung, and it appears she has succeeded in securing the desired capacity.
AMD Is Yet Again Second to NVIDIA In Securing HBM4 Capacity From Samsung, Which Doesn't Give Them Much Leverage
The AI industry, particularly companies involved in the supply chain, has become a much more important entity for manufacturers like AMD, as supply constraints have given them the upper hand in negotiations. A few days ago, we discussed how AMD's Lisa Su plans to visit South Korea to meet with Samsung executives and other partners, and the meeting took place today. According to a Samsung announcement, AMD has secured HBM4 supply for its Instinct MI455X AI accelerators, and will also work on DDR5 for Venice CPUs, but the partnership has an interesting caveat.
Under the MOU, Samsung and AMD will align on primary HBM4 supply for the next-generation AMD AI accelerator, the AMD Instinct MI455X GPU, as well as advanced DRAM solutions for 6th Gen AMD EPYC CPUs, codenamed “Venice.” These technologies will support next-generation AI systems combining AMD Instinct GPUs, AMD EPYC CPUs and rack-scale architectures such as the AMD Helios platform.
- Samsung
The tables have turned significantly for Samsung in the past few months, as it has seen strong momentum in its HBM business. Following breakthroughs with HBM3 and HBM3E, Samsung's HBM4 solution became highly sought after by the likes of NVIDIA, mainly because it features pin speeds of up to 13 Gbps, which are among the highest available. Team Green was early to secure HBM4 capacity from Samsung for Vera Rubin, giving it an edge over AMD as well. And for Samsung, well, they were in a superior position when negotiating with Lisa Su, which is why the cooperation isn't just limited to memory.
The Korean media outlet Chosun Biz reports that the Korean giant has kept the conditions for producing some of AMD's "advanced" AI chips at Samsung Foundry, and while the details of the potential collaboration aren't certain, this does seem like a wise move. We do know that Samsung Foundry has witnessed significant momentum in recent times, following deals with NVIDIA, Tesla, Apple, and other customers, and by adding AMD to its portfolio. This essentially positions the foundry division as a reliable entity to meet semiconductor demand.
There were rumors that Samsung was looking to produce AMD's EPYC Venice CPUs using its SF2 process, but the Korean report mentions "advanced" AI chips, suggesting accelerators.
About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.
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