Micron Is Becoming a Threat to Korean Memory Giants in HBM Field

According to TapTechNews on June 3, the Korean media ETNews recently reported that due to factors such as excellent energy efficiency, Micron is rapidly becoming a threat to the two Korean memory giants of SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics in the HBM memory field.

Traditionally, Micron has been in a weak position in the HBM field due to multiple impacts. But Micron boldly gave up the mass production of HBM3 in 2022 and focused its energy on the research and improvement of HBM3E memory.

This decision has reaped fruitful results: Micron has received orders from Nvidia, the largest demander of HBM, and has begun shipping HBM3E memory to Nvidia's H200 AI GPU.

One of the important reasons why Micron has rapidly become a threat to Korean factories is its energy efficiency advantage: Micron claims that its 8Hi stacked 24GB HBM3E memory has 30% less power consumption than competing products.

In the current era of explosive AI demand, low-power technology is gradually becoming the focus of the industry. More energy-efficient HBM3E memory can reduce system heat and power consumption, reduce the need for heat dissipation, and ultimately reduce the TCO of AI data centers.

In addition, the US is eager to expand the semiconductor self-sufficiency rate. Under this background, Micron has received a large amount of financial support from the US government to build a new large memory wafer fab.

Micron's American identity also makes it easier for it to access Intel and AMD, the other two AI chip companies, which is convenient to obtain more HBM orders.

In terms of production capacity, according to the research report of TrendForce Jibang Consulting in March this year, Micron's HBM production capacity at the end of 2023 is only 3000 12-inch wafers per month, accounting for 3.2% of the overall market.

By the end of 2024, Micron is expected to achieve a HBM production capacity of 20000 wafers per month, and the market share will also increase significantly to 11.4%.

In terms of Micron's future products, according to the previous report of TapTechNews, its 12Hi HBM3E memory with a single-stack capacity of 36GB has been sampled in early March and is planned to achieve large-scale mass production in 2025.

Looking into the more distant HBM4 generation, the Korean media said that Micron plans to complete the development of HBM4 memory in the second half of 2025, and the completion of HBM4E is set for 2028.