SK Hynix has begun securing crucial equipment for mass-producing its next-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM), dubbed HBM4.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system on Monday, Hanmi Semiconductor announced a supply contract with SK Hynix for the HBM4 Manufacturing TC Bonder 4.5 Griffin (GRIFFIN) valued at approximately 44.2 billion KRW (about 29.23 million USD).
The contract amount represents 7.66% of Hanmi Semiconductor’s revenue from the previous year. The agreement is set to run from today until September 2.
The TC Bonder is a vital post-processing tool in HBM production, precisely stacking dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips using heat and pressure. It’s considered a key factor in determining yield and productivity.
Given that the contract explicitly mentions for HBM4 manufacturing, industry experts interpret this as a clear sign that SK Hynix is ramping up efforts to establish its mass production system for the next-generation HBM4.
At present, SK Hynix is supplying HBM3E to customers, including NVIDIA. The industry anticipates the HBM4 market will fully mature starting next year, prompting major memory manufacturers to accelerate their investments in production lines and equipment.