HBM
Coverage of HBM in the Nexus archive.
- The Great Memory Gamble: How One Tiny Chip Now Steers The World Economy
The article highlights global investments in AI memory chips, particularly the High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) gamble, and examines its implications for Latin America. The focus is on how this tiny chip is influencing the world economy.
- Inside CXMT’s US$4.3b IPO: soaring profits meet US export threat and high-stakes HBM race
ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), China’s leading DRAM maker, is set to list on the Shanghai Star Market with a US$4.3 billion IPO amid a global memory shortage driven by artificial intelligence demand. The company faces challenges from potential US export threats and competition in the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market.
- Apple raises prices as AI chip costs surge
Apple has increased prices for some iPads, MacBooks, HomePods, and Apple TVs due to rising costs of AI-related memory and storage chips. The company attributes the price hikes to surging demand for DRAM and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) from AI data centers, a situation dubbed 'RAMageddon.' Analysts warn iPhone prices may also rise in the future.
- Intel's mysterious new datacenter GPU is what Nvidia's Rubin CPX nearly was
Intel's Crescent Island datacenter GPU uses LPDDR5x memory with up to 480 GB, contrasting with industry-standard HBM/GDDR. It aims to address AI workloads similar to Nvidia's shelved Rubin CPX, which prioritized cost-effective prefill acceleration. The shift to disaggregated compute architectures separates prefill and decode phases, reducing reliance on high-bandwidth memory.
- Expect more of those DRAM price hikes as memory shortage continues to bite
DRAM prices doubled in Q1 2024 and are projected to rise by 58-63% in the current quarter due to a persistent AI-driven memory shortage. Suppliers prioritize high-capacity DRAM for AI servers, limiting availability for PCs and smartphones. Key manufacturers like Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron are expanding HBM production, with new capacity expected by 2027-2028.
- DRAM drought to dog AMD's chips this year
AMD expects its PC CPU shipments to decline in the second half of the year due to a memory supply crisis, but hopes that expanding corporate sales will pick up the slack. The company's revenue from its Client and Gaming segment is up by 23 percent compared to the same period last year. However, AMD expects second half gaming revenue to decline more than 20 percent compared to the first half.