Samsung Electronics plans to use its cutting-edge 4-nanometer (nm) foundry process for the mass production of a next-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM) model, a core chip in powering artificial intelligence devices, to take on larger rivals in the sector – SK Hynix Inc. and  TSMC.

Samsung is set to utilize the 4nm foundry process for the logic die of the sixth-generation HBM4 chips, industry sources said on Monday. A logic die, which sits at the base of the stack of dies, is a core component of an HBM chip, which controls DRAM.

Memory chipmakers have manufactured logic dies for existing products such as HBM3E, but the sixth-generation model needs to go through foundry processes as it is equipped with customized functions required by clients.

The 4 nm node is Samsung’s signature chip foundry manufacturing process with a yield of more than 70%. The company uses the process for the Exynos 2400 chipset, the brain of its flagship AI smartphone Galaxy S24 series.

“The 4 nm process is much costlier than the 7 nm and 8 nm but is significantly better than them in terms of chip performance and power consumption,” said an industry source. “Samsung, which manufactures HBM3E with the 10 nm process, aims to take the throne in the HBM sector by applying the 4nm process.”