A few days ago, Samsung passed Broadcom’s HBM3E 8-layer quality test. Now, the Korean firm is desperately trying to clear Nvidia’s qualification test for its HBM3E 12-layer chip. The last sample it sent to Nvidia failed to meet performance requirements. As a result, Samsung reportedly underwent a redesign at the end of March 2025 and will face Nvidia’s quality test again in May 2025.
Samsung’s HBM3E 12-layer chip test results could be out in mid-May
The company will reportedly complete the redesign of the HBM3E 12-layer chip and release the quality test results in about two months. If Samsung achieves strong scores in this evaluation, it may pass Nvidia’s qualification test for its HBM3E chip in May 2025.
“Redesign usually takes two months, but since there are many parts that are being omitted in the common process, the results will be out in mid-May at the earliest,” an industry insider said (via EBN) and added that the cause of the delay was “further work is needed on the TSV (through silicon via) process.”
Although Samsung originally planned to conduct quality tests for the HBM3E 12-layer product in the first quarter of 2025, it postponed the process after failing to meet Nvidia’s requirements. While the actual reasons for the delay in passing the quality test are unknown, industry watchers point out performance issues, including speed, heat generation, and power consumption.
An industry insider said, “The yield of packaged HBM is high, but performance is a problem,” adding, “Heat is the cause.” Samsung is now preparing to ramp up HBM3E chips as early as Q2 2025, or at the latest, in the second half of this year. An earlier report suggested that Nvidia could use Samsung’s fifth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM3E) on its Blackwell Ultra AI platform.
Samsung aims to expand its HBM market share by supplying its chips to several tech giants, including Amazon. The South Korean tech giant has also started developing its 6th-generation high bandwidth memory (HBM4) and custom HBM chips for various clients. It will reportedly start mass production of its HBM4 chips in the second half of the year.
