Subj : Samsung's biggest memory rivals are plotting a tie-up with Kafkae
To   : All
From : TechnologyDaily
Date : Tue Mar 12 2024 20:45:05

Samsung's biggest memory rivals are plotting a tie-up with Kafkaesque 
implications  SK Hynix and Kioxia could build lucrative HBM chips for Nvidia, 
AMD and others

Date:
Tue, 12 Mar 2024 20:41:54 +0000

Description:
SK Hynix is reportedly in talks with Kioxia to manufacture HBM chips at its 
facilities in Japan

FULL STORY
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South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix, a key Nvidia supplier, says it has already 
sold out of its entire 2024 production of stacked high-bandwidth memory 
DRAMs, crucial for AI processors in data centers. Thats a problem, given just 
how in demand HBM chips are right now. 

However, a solution might have presented itself, as reports say SK Hynix is 
in talks with Japanese firm Kioxia Holdings to jointly produce HBM chips. 

SK Hynix, the worlds second-largest memory chipmaker, is a major shareholder 
of Kioxia, the worlds No. 2 NAND flash manufacturer, and if the deal goes 
ahead, it could see the high-performance chips being produced at facilities 
co-operated by Kioxia and US-based Western Digital Corp. in Japan. A merger 
hangs in the balance 

What makes this situation even more interesting is Kioxia and Western Digital 
have been engaged in merger talks, something that SK Hynix is opposed to over 
fears this would reduce its opportunities with Kioxia. As SK Hynix is a major 
shareholder in Kioxia, the Japanese firm and Western Digitals merger cant go 
ahead without its blessing, and this new move could be seen as an important 
sweetener to help things progress. 

After the news of the potential deal broke, SK Hynix issued a statement 
saying simply, There is no change in our stance that if there is a 
collaboration opportunity, we will enter into discussion on that matter. 

If the merger between Kioxia and Western Digital does proceed, it will make 
the company potentially the biggest manufacturer of NAND memory on the 
planet, leapfrogging current leader Samsung, so there's a lot to play for. 

The Korea Economic Daily says of the move, The partnership is expected to 
cement SK Hynixs leadership in the HBM segment, which it almost evenly splits 
with Samsung Electronics. Kioxia will likely transform NAND flash lines into 
those for HBMs, used for generative AI applications, high-performance data 
centers and machine learning platforms, contributing to a revival in Japans 
semiconductor market. More from TechRadar Pro Samsung but beats Micron to 
36GB HBM3E memory Samsung archrival sells out of precious HBM cargo A glimpse 
at what the future of memory and storage could look like



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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/pro/samsungs-biggest-memory-rivals-are-plotting-a-ti
e-up-with-kafkaesque-implications-sk-hynix-and-kioxia-could-build-lucrative-hb
m-chips-for-nvidia-amd-and-others


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