SK hynix has been confirmed as the exclusive supplier of high bandwidth memory (HBM) for Microsoft’s (MS) latest artificial intelligence (AI) accelerator, “Maia 200.” As HBM demand spreads among big tech companies such as MS, Google and Amazon Web Services (AWS), the battle for leadership between Samsung Electronics and SK hynix is intensifying.

According to the semiconductor industry on the 27th, SK hynix’s fifth-generation HBM, HBM3E, has been applied to the Maia 200. The Maia 200, manufactured on Taiwan TSMC’s 3-nanometer process and designed to improve efficiency in AI inference workloads, uses a total of 216GB of HBM3E. It is reported to be equipped with six of SK hynix’s 12-high-stack HBM3E chips.

MS has installed the chip at its data center in Iowa, United States, and is expanding deployment to its data center in Arizona as well. As a result, HBM demand is also expected to gradually increase going forward.
With big tech firms’ in-house AI semiconductors appearing one after another, such as Google’s seventh-generation Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) “Ironwood” and Amazon’s third-generation AI chip “Trainium,” the HBM market has secured a new growth axis beyond Nvidia. Each of these chips is equipped with six to eight HBM units.

Amid fierce competition between Samsung Electronics and SK hynix to supply HBM, Samsung products are currently understood to be used more widely in Google’s TPU. However, as SK hynix has been revealed as the exclusive HBM supplier to another major customer, MS, industry observers note that competition between the two companies is heating up further.

Competition surrounding the next-generation product HBM4 is also in full swing. Samsung Electronics recently passed HBM4 quality tests with Nvidia and AMD, while SK hynix is reported to be in the final verification stage with major customers.

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