Samsung Vice Chairman talks about 12-Hi HBM3E memory supply to NVIDIA for its AI GPUs

Samsung Electronics is beginning its "counterattack" in the HBM market, with an executive discussing the company's 12-Hi HBM3E memory with NVIDIA.

In a new report from Seoul Economic Daily picked up by insider @Jukanrosleve on X, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman and Head of the Device Solutions (DS) division proposed supplying 12-Hi HBM3E memory for NVIDIA's new GB200 "Blackwell Ultra" GPUs. Amplified by the recent success of supplying AMD with HBM3 memory for its new Instinct AI accelerators, Samsung is now knocking on NVIDIA's door.

Samsung is now launching a "full-scale counterattack" to push into the HBM market against competitors like SK hynix and Micron, where according to tech industry sources, Vice Chairman Jeon Yeong-hyeon, visited Silicon Valley last week for negotiations with NVIDIA regarding the supply of 12-stack HBM3E memory.

This is the second time the VC has visited Silicon Valley in less than two months, and while it hasn't been confirmed if NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang was in attendance at the meeting, it's being reported that specific discussions took place regarding 12-stack HBM3E qualification tests, and the possibility of supplying NVIDIA with its HBM memory in 2026.

A source that's familiar with the discussions explained: "They emphasized that the quality of their 4th-generation 10-nanometer-class DRAM (1a)-based 12-stack HBM3E, which features an improved base and core die, is not inferior to competitors, and they discussed the possibility of supplying it for the Blackwell Ultra, which will ship in large quantities next year." The source added, "Internally, Samsung is expecting a positive outcome, as their product is not numerically inferior in quality and they now have a track record of supplying customers like AMD".