Samsung's new 12-stack HBM3E chip packs more capacity in the same size as older designs

Samsung has just announced that it’s become the world’s first-ever manufacturer of 12-stack HBM3E DRAM to cater to AI needs. It’s said to be the most advanced HBM (high bandwidth memory) to date.

The South Korean tech giant said on Tuesday that the chip boasts a massive 36GB capacity and a record-breaking bandwidth of up to 1,280 gigabytes per second (GB/s), representing a significant 50% improvement over previous-generation HBM3 chips.

Samsung’s new HBM3E 12H memory chip packs 12 layers while staying the same size as older 8-layer chips. This allows it to work with existing equipment and avoids warping problems that might occur with taller designs.

Yongcheol Bae, Executive Vice President of Memory Product Planning at Samsung Electronics, says that the company has already begun offering samples of the HBM3E 12H to customers, with mass production scheduled for the first half of 2024.

“This new memory solution forms part of our drive toward developing core technologies for high-stack HBM and providing technological leadership for the high-capacity HBM market in the AI era,” he says.

And as for the AI, compared to HBM3 8H, the HBM3E 12H is estimated to deliver a 34% increase in average AI training speed and enable over an 11.5-fold expansion in the number of concurrent users for inference services.

Samsung is not a new player in the AI game. Its latest Galaxy S24 smartphones, for example, have AI all over them: the Circle to Search feature and Galaxy AI are just to name a few.