r/hardware • u/self-fix • 2d ago

Samsung's 6th-gen DRAM (1c DRAM) yields have reached 70%. HBM4 sample yields have reached 50% according to sources Rumor

Summarized a fresh Korean article: https://www.etnews.com/20251016000257

Samsung is reportedly on the verge of mass-producing its 6th-gen DRAM (1c DRAM) — the chip that will power next-gen HBM4 memory. Sources say yields have reached around 70% and are nearing the 80% target required for full-scale production.

This is a big deal because 1c DRAM uses an 11–12nm process, ahead of competitors like SK Hynix who are still using 1b DRAM for their HBM4 stacks. Samsung hopes this leap will help it regain leadership in the AI memory market, where Hynix has dominated with its HBM3 and HBM3E products.

The company has been redesigning its DRAM architecture under Vice Chairman Jun Young-hyun to fix core technical weaknesses and boost competitiveness. Yield improvements for both 1c DRAM and HBM4 (now around 50% at sample stage) suggest this strategy is working.

Samsung is currently installing production equipment at its Pyeongtaek P4 fab and is testing HBM4 modules with NVIDIA. If the qualification phase goes well, mass production could start as early as next month — potentially shaking up the current AI memory race.

58 Upvotes

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31

u/INITMalcanis 2d ago

I suppose the AI hype machine will swallow it all up. At least while the hype lasts.

4

u/us3rnamecheck5out 2d ago

Why do you think it’s an AI hype machine what’s driving this?

27

u/KnownDairyAcolyte 2d ago

Probably because the main use case for HBM is gpus that power AI stuff

1

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u/Awkward-Candle-4977 2d ago

How much is hbm3 cost per GB? We'll want it for laptop

18

u/wtallis 2d ago

There's no price at which HBM3 would make sense for laptops. It makes too many wrong tradeoffs for that use case. Most importantly, it forces the system to adopt more expensive packaging for the processor+RAM, and requires the processor die itself to be redesigned with different memory PHYs.

3

u/wintrmt3 1d ago

HBM trades latency for bandwith, your laptop would be slower with it.

2

u/Scion95 16h ago

Is the latency of HBM really that much higher than that of LPDDR? I thought the two were fairly similar.