According to the latest research by TrendForce, the development of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) technology is being driven by surging demand from AI server applications, with the three major manufacturers actively advancing their HBM4 product roadmaps. The new HBM4 standard increases the number of input/output (I/O) channels, resulting in more complex chip designs and larger wafer sizes. Additionally, some suppliers are adopting a logic chip architecture to further enhance performance, all of which is contributing to higher production costs. While the initial price premium for HBM3e was around 20%, the increased manufacturing complexity leads TrendForce to project that HBM4’s price premium will exceed 30%1.
Leading AI chip makers, including NVIDIA—who unveiled its latest Rubin GPU at this year’s GTC conference—and AMD, with its MI400 series, have both announced that these products will be equipped with HBM4. Compared to previous generations, HBM4 doubles the number of I/O channels from 1,024 to 2,048, while maintaining data transfer rates above 8.0Gbps, equivalent to HBM3e. As a result, HBM4 can deliver twice the data throughput at the same speed due to its higher channel count1.
Additionally, while the HBM3e base die currently uses a memory architecture serving primarily as a signal relay, SK hynix and Samsung are working with foundries on HBM4 to implement a logic chip-based architecture. This allows for further integration of HBM with system-on-chip (SoC) functionality, accelerating data paths, reducing latency, and increasing stability in high-speed data transmission environments1.
Driven by robust demand, TrendForce forecasts that total HBM shipments will exceed 30 billion gigabits (Gb) by 2026. As suppliers ramp up production, HBM4’s market share is expected to increase each quarter, officially surpassing the HBM3e series in the second half of 2026 to become the market mainstream. Among suppliers, SK hynix is projected to maintain its leadership with more than half of the market share, while Samsung and Micron will need to further improve product yield rates and production capacity to catch up in the HBM4 segment1.