➀ Samsung is re-engineering its HBM chips as revealed at CES; ➁ Hynix has been leading the HBM market with about 50% of the revenues; ➂ The HBM market is expected to be worth about $14 billion last year and grow at a CAGR of ~38% to reach $37.7 billion by 2029.

➀ China-made DDR5 memory chips are nearly 40% larger than Samsung's; ➁ CXMT's 16 Gb DDR5 memory IC has a larger die size due to less advanced chipmaking technology; ➂ The cost of CXMT's DDR5 chips is likely higher than Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix due to the larger die size.

➀ DRAM prices are expected to decline by 8-13% in the first quarter of 2025, impacting PC, server, and GPU VRAM markets; ➁ The decline is driven by weak consumer demand and oversupply of DDR4 memory modules; ➂ Server DRAM prices are expected to drop by 5-10%, while GPU VRAM prices may fall by 5-10%.

➀ Intel's shift to a more transparent strategy in technology announcements; ➁ The competition between Intel's PowerVia and TSMC's Super Power Rail; ➂ Andy Grove's philosophy of maintaining a 'healthy amount of paranoia'.

➀ Kioxia Corporation and Nanya Technology have developed a low-power DRAM technology called OCTRAM, which uses oxide-semiconductor transistors for ultra-low leakage and high efficiency. The technology aims to significantly reduce power consumption in AI, post-5G communication, and IoT devices. ➁ The OCTRAM features a cylindrical-shaped InGaZnO vertical transistor as its cell transistor, offering enhanced memory density. ➂ The technology achieves a high 'on' current exceeding 15μA per cell and an 'off' current as low as 1aA per cell, reducing energy leakage to negligible levels.

➀ SK Hynix has secured a significant order for HBM from Broadcom; ➁ The chips will be used in an AI computing chip for a major technology company; ➂ The deal is expected to enhance SK Hynix's market position in high-performance memory.

➀ Compute Express Link (CXL) technology is expected to move from a niche to mainstream use in 2025; ➁ CXL's support for memory expansion is a significant driver, with various server and memory solutions now available; ➂ CXL 2.0 and future generations of PCIe/CXL will enable more advanced use cases like switching and dynamic memory allocation.

➀ China experienced a decline in chip investment, with new investment deals dropping by 35.9% year-on-year in the first 11 months of 2024; ➁ The total funding decreased by 32.4%; ➂ ChangXin Memory and Unisoc were the largest and second-largest investors, respectively. JW Insights notes that the US semiconductor market surpassed China's in Q3, driven by massive AI infrastructure investments in the US.

➀ Imec proposes a 3D integrated CCD with IGZO channel for CXL buffer memory; ➁ The memory operates on a planar proof-of-concept structure with a storage capacity of 142 bits; ➂ Imec expects the 3D CCD memory density to scale beyond DRAM limits, with potential for five times more bit density than 2D DRAM by 2030.

➀ Samsung has not yet passed NVIDIA's qualification for HBM3E memory; ➁ The delay is due to Samsung's inability to meet NVIDIA's chip performance requirements; ➂ It is 'realistically impossible' for Samsung to supply HBM3E to NVIDIA this year.

➀ Samsung is preparing for 1c DRAM mass production at its Pyeong Plant 4; ➁ The 1c DRAM is a 6th generation 10nm-class technology expected to be fully commercialized in 2025; ➂ Samsung aims to enhance its competitiveness in the AI market with the new technology.

➀ SEMI forecasts semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales to grow 6.5% year-on-year to $113 billion in 2024, with projections of $121 billion for 2025 and $139 billion for 2026. ➁ The wafer fab equipment (WFE) segment is expected to grow 5.4% to $101 billion in 2024, driven by DRAM, HBM, and China. ➂ Back-end equipment sales are projected to surge, with test equipment sales increasing 14.7% in 2025 and 18.6% in 2026.

➀ A class-action lawsuit alleges that UnitedHealthcare uses a faulty algorithm to deny patient coverage, filed by two now-deceased individuals. ➁ UnitedHealthcare CEO Brain Thompson was killed in Midtown Manhattan earlier this week, and the suspect is currently on the run. ➂ The lawsuit claims UnitedHealthcare pushed employees to use an algorithm with a 90% error rate to deny coverage.

➀ Samsung is conducting research to modify the packaging method for the LPDDR used in iPhones; ➁ The change is in response to Apple's request to convert the LPDDR IC into a discrete package; ➂ The new packaging will involve packaging the LPDDR separately.

➀ The rise of RISC-V cores and the challenges of certification; ➁ The role of Breker Verification Systems in the certification process; ➂ The complexity of certifying RISC-V ISA implementations and the efforts of RISC-V International.

➀ Hynix has started mass production of the world's first 321-layer NAND with 1Tb capacity; ➁ The 321-layer device offers a 12% improvement in write time and a 13% improvement in read time compared to the 238-layer device; ➂ Hynix has adopted the '3 plugs' process technology and a low-stress material for stacking more than 300 layers.

➀ NVIDIA has announced a new Grace Blackwell platform with the NVIDIA GB200 NVL4, which combines two Arm-based Grace CPUs and four Blackwell GPUs. The platform is designed for lower power deployments with a power consumption of just over 6kW. The NVL4 module is targeted to be a large node with up to 1.3TB of combined coherent memory. ➁ The GB200 NVL4 is set to ship in the second half of 2025. ➂ The NVL4 is designed as an alternative to the higher power and higher GPU count platforms offered by NVIDIA, targeting specific deployment needs.

➀ Hynix plans to start sampling HBM3e 16hi memory with 48 GB capacity per cube in H1 2025; ➁ HBM3e 16hi offers a high-capacity alternative before the production of HBM4 16hi; ➂ HBM3e 16hi can deliver a maximum capacity of 384 GB per system, surpassing NVIDIA’s Rubin at 288 GB; ➃ Transitioning from HBM3e to HBM4 will double the I/O count and increase die size, but the per-die capacity remains at 24 GB; ➄ HBM3e 16hi will adopt the Advanced MR-MUF stacking process for higher stack counts and computational bandwidth.

➀ Samsung is reportedly reducing its foundry and legacy DRAM production; ➁ The South Korean semiconductor giant is considering selling outdated NAND equipment in China; ➂ Local Chinese companies are said to be potential buyers.