Value context and insight. lkm@koreatimes.co.kr
Samsung, SK hynix benefit from soaring demand for high-performing memory chips amid AI boom
Samsung Electronics employees pose at the firm's manufacturing plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, in this file photo. Courtesy of Samsung Electronics
By Lee Kyung-min
By Lee Kyung-min
The local memory chip market is showing signs of a boom, underpinned by the industry-wide recovery after the release of new products made by NVIDIA, Intel and AMD, according to market watchers, Thursday.
The three global logic chip powerhouses are key partners of Korea-based global memory chip leaders, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. The shares of these KOSPI-listed IT titans are in turn expected to climb further.
The three industry leaders have released new logic chips needed for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC).
They are increasing the use of high-bandwidth memory (HBM), a high-speed computer memory interface for 3D-stacked synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM). It is used together with high-performance graphics accelerators, network devices, high-performance data centers and some supercomputers.
The first HBM memory chip was produced by SK hynix in 2013.
According to TrendForce, a market research firm, the SK affiliate has 50 percent share in the global HBM market, with the Samsung affiliate holding 40 percent.
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AMD, a U.S. semiconductor firm, unveiled MI300X, a state-of-the-art AI graphic processing unit (GPU) June 13 (local time).
The firm said the product can offer better performance for large language models (LLM) adding mass production will begin before the end of this year. A large language model is a model consisting of a neural network with many parameters, trained on large quantities of unlabeled text using self-supervised learning or semi-supervised learning. The models emerged around 2018 and perform well at a wide variety of tasks.
GPUs were originally designed to support computer graphics performance, mostly in gaming, but they have also been widely used as an “accelerator” to speed up the computing process in cryptocurrency mining. These days, however, the role of the GPU is further expanding, as propelled by ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI based on its generative pre-trained transformer series of large language models.
The recent surge in demand for GPUs is good news for local chipmakers since the product needs HBMs made by the affiliates of Samsung and SK.
The robust stable demand is likely to translate into a rebound in the memory semiconductor sector, snapping out of years of stagnant market conditions, according to market watchers.
In June of last year, SK hynix began the mass production of HBM3, a fourth-generation HBM product. Samsung Electronics plans to follow suit in the second half of this year.
Hyundai Motor Securities Research Center head Roh Geun-chang said Samsung Electronics share prices will soar as high as 87,000 won ($67.8), an upward revision from the previous 78,000 won. “The revision is anchored by increased demand for AI chips highly likely to carry the strong performance.”
KB Securities Kim Dong-won said both Samsung and SK affiliates will be able to see a turnaround in the latter half. “The stagnant prices of chips will rebound, backed by HBM3s and new product DDR5.”