Samsung Electronics has undertaken a sweeping organizational overhaul of its memory business, industry sources said Friday, in a bid to sharpen its edge in the race for next-generation memory chips.
Under the reshuffle, the tech giant has launched a new memory development unit that consolidates its key research functions, including its high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, development team. The newly created unit will be led by Hwang Sang-joon, who currently oversees the DRAM product and technology team and is credited with leading the development of Samsung’s high-value DRAM and HBM products.
The HBM team, previously a standalone unit, will now fall under the design division within the revamped memory development structure. The move is widely viewed as an effort to accelerate the development of next-generation HBM technologies, including the upcoming sixth-generation HBM4 and the seventh-generation HBM4E.
Samsung originally spun off the HBM team in July amid concerns over yield rates and product stability following a loss of market share to rival SK hynix. At the time, the company aimed to focus talent and resources on stabilizing HBM production and narrowing the technological gap.
The latest reintegration of the HBM team signals a renewed sense of confidence within Samsung regarding the normalization of its HBM-related development and manufacturing processes, sources said.
Samsung is currently developing HBM4 chips to supply major clients, including Nvidia. While many industry players are still using fifth-generation 1b-class DRAM chips, Samsung has moved ahead by employing its sixth-generation 1c-class DRAM technology. This advancement is expected to give the company a competitive advantage in artificial intelligence and high-performance computing markets.
Sources added that Samsung’s 1c DRAM yield rate has recently climbed to the 70 percent range. The company is said to be targeting a further improvement to 80-90 percent to cement its leadership in the rapidly expanding markets for AI and data center applications.
yeeun@heraldcorp.com
