In anticipation that the US would soon outlaw their export to China, Chinese technology companies began stockpiling Samsung’s high-bandwidth memory ( HBM ) chips earlier this year.
According to Reuters, citing three unknown publications, China accounted for about 30 % of Samsung’s HBM device profits in the first half of this year as a result of growing demand from tech companies like Huawei and Baidu as well as from innovative Chinese companies. HBM chips are commonly used as artificial intelligence ( AI ) accelerators.
According to the Reuters report, the majority of Chinese companies are looking for the HBM2E device, which is two decades and one-generations apart from the most cutting-edge HBM3E. China plans to produce indigenously the HBM2, the most intelligent, least advanced design.
International HBM business income may rise to US$ 14 billion in 2024 from$ 2.7 billion in 2022, Yole Group, a France-based research university, said in a statement in February 2024. The number is expected to rise to$ 37.7 billion in 2029, representing a compound annual growth rate of 38 % from 2023 to 2029.  ,
Yole added that this year, the share of HBM in the overall DRAM market will increase from 3 % to 19 %, according to Yole.  ,
However, researchers at Fangzheng Securities expected that world HBM need may simply achieve$ 9.14 billion, or 40 million devices, in 2024.  ,
They said Nvidia will consume 58 % of all HBM chips, followed by Google ( 15 % ), AMD ( 14 % ) and Chinese firms ( 7 % ). The remaining 6 % will be used by other tech firms, the statement said.
The first seven months of 2024 saw a rise in China’s overall chip imports, according to Taiwan’s DigiTimes on Thursday ( August 8 ).  ,
But, Li Yali, a journalist for Guancha.cn, claimed in an article published on Thursday that the rise in Chinese chip imports from January through July was largely due to a rise in global need for Chinese buyer electronic goods as opposed to the stockpiling of HBM cards.
In January-July, China’s imports of integrated circuits grew 14.5 % to 308.2 billion units, up 11.5 % to$ 212.1 billion from the same period last year, according to Chinese Customs data. Following the downturn of last year, the numbers were also below what they had been for 2022.  ,  ,
China’s HBM interests
The US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security ( BIS ) chief, Alan Estevez, traveled to Japan and the Netherlands to urge their governments to stop ASML and Tokyo Electron from selling HBM chip-making equipment to China in June.
According to Bloomberg, the US may use its Foreign Direct Product Rule ( FDPR ) to prevent China from purchasing HBM chips from Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix in South Korea on July 31. By the end of August, a new circular of device export controls may be announced, according to Reuters.  ,
On August 4, Tom’s Hardware reported that China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies ( CXMT ) has reportedly begun mass production of HBM2 chips. It cited a DigiTimes statement, which said it got the information from South Korea’s ETNews.
The progress made by CXMT’s HBM device manufacturing has not yet been made publicly known.  ,
In a Reuters document from May 15, it was reported that CXMT had shown the products to clients after working with Tongfu Microelectronics to develop test HBM chips.  ,
Some Chinese critics claimed that Huatian Technology, Tongfu Microelectronics, and JCET Group could make HBM chips. They claimed that Tongfu Microelectronics is a capable person but also needs more time to get ready for mass creation.
In December 2022, Nantong Tongfu, a fully-owned company of Tongfu Microelectronics, completed the construction of its step three shop in Nantong, Jiangsu state.
Tongfu Microelectronics celebrated the release of its first 2.5D/3D integrated circuit packaging device on February 22 this year in a great ceremony. However, it kept the machine’s company secret.  ,
The HBM device manufacturing facility in Nantong Tongfu received an economic analysis report on March 1 from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. According to the statement, the 250-employee service can make 36, 000 models of 80-millimeter-long HBM chips per month.  ,
Tongfu Microelectronics stated to shareholders last month that the HBM industry is still dominated by foreign chipmakers, without going into detail about its own creation.  ,
Read more: US tightens China-chip quotas in response to outdated Cold War diktats.
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