According to the semiconductor industry on Sept. 7, workers at the site of Samsung Electronics’ Pyeongtaek Campus Plant 5 have been busy moving steel structures and receiving safety training, indicating preparations for full-scale construction are in full swing. The company aims to resume investment with groundbreaking as early as next month. Samsung Electronics had initially planned to start construction of the 5th plant last year but postponed it due to the deteriorating semiconductor market conditions.

Samsung Electronics aims to expand HBM supply with the P5 groundbreaking. HBM is a high-performance memory that dramatically increases data processing speed by vertically stacking multiple DRAMs. The current market leader is HBM3E, the 5th generation product used in NVIDIA’s Blackwell chip. Samsung Electronics is likely to pass NVIDIA’s HBM3E qualification test this month.

Samsung Electronics plans to secure an advantage in the 6th generation HBM4 market following mass supply of HBM3E to NVIDIA. HBM4 will be mounted on NVIDIA’s next-generation AI accelerator graphics processing unit (GPU), Rubin. Although Samsung’s HBM development speed is about three months behind its competitor SK hynix, the company plans to catch up quickly by reinforcing production capabilities.

NVIDIA is expected to complete HBM4 quality verification by the first quarter of next year and finalize HBM4 suppliers and quantities for its next-generation AI GPU Rubin series to be released in the second half of the year. While SK hynix is likely to announce its order first, the industry is focusing on how quickly Samsung Electronics will deliver contract news.

To advance the supply timing of HBM4 to NVIDIA, Samsung Electronics plans to introduce the 10nm (nanometer, one-billionth of a meter) class 6th generation (1c) DRAM process to the empty line at Pyeongtaek Plant 4 (P4). This is a strategic move to mass-produce DRAM for HBM4 using the industry’s most advanced process. Samsung Electronics has completed internal mass production approval for HBM4 and is preparing for sample production for supply discussions with customers. Sample production is the stage of producing a small number of chips to provide to customers before full-scale mass production.