The News: SK Hynix is making a $1 billion investment into advanced chip packaging technology. The investment is centered around High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) chip technology that has proven advantageous for AI. More information can be found here.
SK Hynix Invests $1 Billion in AI Chip Technology
Analyst Take: HBM has become a crucial component for AI workloads. HBM is a memory technology that involves vertically stacked layers of interconnected DRAM chips. As the name suggests, HBM is capable of providing HBM to processors—something that is increasingly important for the emergence of AI.
SK Hynix, which introduced the first HBM chip back in 2013, has recently found major success with HBM technology due to its advantages for AI workloads. Now, the company is further committing to capturing this AI memory market with a new $1 billion investment. The new investment is focused on advanced chip packaging, with a goal of reducing power consumption and increasing performance.
SK Hynix has already positioned itself as a leader in the HBM market, and therefore a leader in AI memory, with HBM chips that are in high demand from GPU manufacturers such as NVIDIA. Last year, SK Hynix announced the first 12-layer HBM3, which achieves 24 GB of memory capacity in the same package as previous iterations, and the company is continuing to innovate with HBM3E and HBM4 technology.
The increased investment in chip packaging will allow for even further HBM innovations. SK Hynix has stated that the majority of the investment will be focused on Mass Reflow Molded Underfill (MR-MUF) and Through Silicon Vias (TSV) techniques.
This investment into HBM and advancing chip packaging is a smart move from SK Hynix, as it has become clear that HBM will play a critical role in the advancing AI technology. By making this investment, SK Hynix will continue to maintain its position as a leader in AI memory and the rapidly emerging AI market.
Disclosure: The Futurum Group is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of The Futurum Group as a whole.
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Mitch comes to The Futurum Group through the acquisition of the Evaluator Group and is focused on the fast-paced and rapidly evolving areas of cloud computing and data storage. Mitch joined Evaluator Group in 2019 as a Research Associate covering numerous storage technologies and emerging IT trends.
With a passion for all things tech, Mitch brings deep technical knowledge and insight to The Futurum Group’s research by highlighting the latest in data center and information management solutions. Mitch’s coverage has spanned topics including primary and secondary storage, private and public clouds, networking fabrics, and more. With ever changing data technologies and rapidly emerging trends in today’s digital world, Mitch provides valuable insights into the IT landscape for enterprises, IT professionals, and technology enthusiasts alike.
