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- ▲ Elon MuskⓒReuters Association
The Korean semiconductor industry, driven by HBM (high bandwidth memory), is experiencing an unprecedented boom due to the surge in demand for artificial intelligence (AI). Nvidia CEO Jensen Hwang reaffirmed strong demand by mentioning samples from domestic companies such as SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics.
However, behind the monopoly system of ‘K-Semiconductor’, a huge shadow is simultaneously casting. This is because China began supplying HBM3 samples, narrowing the technology gap at an alarming rate, and Tesla, a ‘big’ customer, announced a supply chain reorganization, announcing the construction of its own chip factory.
◇ AI boom led by Korea… “Blackwell demand is very strong”
The current AI chip market boom is being led by K-Semiconductor. AI chip leader Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said on the 8th (local time), “We are experiencing very strong demand for the latest ‘Blackwell’ GPU,” and added, “We have ordered additional wafers from TSMC.”
In particular, regarding the supply of HBM, he said, “We received cutting-edge chip samples from SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, and Micron,” and “Three memory manufacturers have greatly expanded their production capacity to support us.” This reaffirms that Korean memory companies are key partners in the AI chip ecosystem.
◇ China’s CXMT chases HBM3… “Technology gap 2-3 years”
The first shadow is China’s intense technological pursuit. It has been reported that China’s Changxin Memory (CXMT) recently began supplying HBM3 samples, the 4th generation HBM, to Huawei. This schedule is more than two months ahead of the original year-end projection.
CXMT announced mass production of HBM3 early next year and mass production of 5th generation HBM3E in 2027. What is especially noteworthy is the fact that it is known to have applied packaging technology similar to SK Hynix’s core technology, ‘MR-MUF (Mass Reflow-Molded Underfill)’.
It’s not just HBM. CXMT has increased the DDR5 mass production yield to 80% based on the 16-nano DRAM process, and recently formalized mass production of products with “performance similar to Samsung and SK’s latest LPDDR5X.”
Global IB Morgan Stanley evaluated, “The memory supercycle driven by AI demand has begun in earnest, but the growth of China’s CXMT is emerging as a variable in market competition.” There is a cool-headed analysis in the industry that the gap in memory technology with Korea has narrowed to 2-3 years.
◇ ‘Big hand’ Tesla’s declaration of independence… “Building our own ‘terra fab’”
The second shadow is the ‘independence’ movement of major customers. Tesla CEO Elon Musk made a bombshell declaration in his shareholders’ meeting speech on the 6th (local time), saying, “To realize our AI and robotics ambitions, we must build a huge semiconductor manufacturing plant, ‘Tera Fab.'”
CEO Musk said, “Recently, my biggest concern is how to secure enough chips,” and expressed dissatisfaction that the company is currently dependent on its suppliers Samsung Electronics and Taiwan’s TSMC, but is not receiving sufficient semiconductors.
He hinted at the possibility of a partnership with Intel and even revealed a specific plan: “The initial goal is to produce 100,000 wafers per month.”
This means that Tesla, which is investing heavily in autonomous driving and AI chips, will break away from being a ‘customer’ of foundry (semiconductor consignment production) companies such as Samsung Electronics in the long term and build its own supply chain. This foreshadows the possibility of a reorganization of the semiconductor industry surrounding AI chips, and is a long-term threat to the domestic foundry and memory industries.
It is clear that the AI revolution has brought a huge ‘opportunity’ to K-Semiconductor, but the ‘crisis’ of China’s fierce pursuit and ‘big’ customers’ declaration of self-reliance is also emerging at the same time.