Samsung becomes the first company to ship HBM4E memory samples, just three months after leading the HBM4 generation

Samsung has begun shipping samples of its HBM4E high-bandwidth memory to major global customers, making it the first company to deliver the next-generation AI memory product. The announcement sent Samsung shares surging as much as 6.51% before settling at a 3.67% gain, closing at 310,500 won.

The new 12-layer HBM4E delivers a stable pin speed of 14 Gbps, with performance that scales up to 16 Gbps, representing more than a 20% increase over HBM4. Memory bandwidth reaches up to 3.6 TB/s per stack, which, for context, is roughly equivalent to the combined memory bandwidth of two GeForce RTX 5090 GPUs in a single stack. The 12-layer configuration ships with a 48GB capacity, a more than 30% increase over the previous generation, with 32GB eight-layer and 64GB sixteen-layer variants also in the works, depending on customer requirements.

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Beyond raw speed and capacity, Samsung has also made meaningful efficiency gains. Advanced low-power design techniques and an optimized packaging architecture improve energy efficiency by 16% and reduce thermal resistance by more than 14% compared to HBM4, translating into better heat dissipation and longer-term reliability in demanding data center environments.

The chip is built on Samsung's sixth-generation 10nm-class 1c DRAM process with a 4nm logic base die from Samsung Foundry. Samsung says it will align HBM4E mass production with individual customers' schedules following sample evaluation, which almost certainly includes NVIDIA for solutions such as its upcoming Vera Rubin AI superchip.

"Following the successful mass production of HBM4, Samsung has once again demonstrated its distinct technological edge with HBM4E," said Sang Joon Hwang, Executive Vice President and Head of Memory Development at Samsung Electronics. "Through our advanced manufacturing capabilities and preemptive infrastructure investments, we will continue to drive the growth of the global AI memory market."

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The HBM4E shipment comes roughly three months after Samsung began distributing HBM4 in February, where it became the first company to initiate mass shipments of that generation. SK Hynix had initially planned HBM4E sample shipments for the second half of this year, but has reportedly moved up its timeline due to smoother-than-expected development. Micron, meanwhile, is targeting a mass-production ramp-up for HBM4E in 2027.

With customers already booking capacity through 2027 and AI infrastructure demand showing no signs of slowing, Samsung's push to lead the HBM4E generation is a strategic bet to gain ground in next-generation AI memory.