Samsung Electronics needs 'new design' for HBMs to pass Nvidia test: Huang

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks to reporters during a press conference on January 7 at a hotel in Las Vegas as part of the sideline event for the CES 2025 [JIN EUN-SOO]

LAS VEGAS - Samsung Electronics "have to engineer new design" to pass Nvidia's verification test for its high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, according its CEO Jensen Huang on Tuesday. 
 
"[Samsung Electronics] has to engineer a new design but they can do it and they are working very fast," Huang said to reporters during a CES press Q&A session Tuesday in Las Vegas. 
 
"Korea is very impatience which is good. Samsung actually created the first HBM that Nvidia ever used was Samsung. They will recover."
 
When asked about the deployment of Micron's GDDR7 chips for its newest RTX50 GPU unveiled the previous day instead of that of Samsung or SK hynix, Huang said "I don't know exactly why. It's probably nothing important."
 
Samsung's approval for its HBM3E chips from Nvidia was on a positive note by Huang since last year. 
 
In March, 2024, Huang said Samsung's HBM chips are in the "qualification" process and called Samsung an "extraordinary" company. In November last year, Huang told reporters at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology that Nvidia is working as fast as it can to certify its advanced AI memory chips. 
 
The approval hasn't happened yet.  
 
Samsung Electronics is yet to receive an official verification from Nvidia for its eight-layered and 12-layered HBM3E chips. The slower-than-expected approval has served as a significant downer for Samsung Electronics investors leading its chip division leader Jun Young-hyun to issue an unprecedented apology statement, acknowledging its failure in grabbing technological edge. 
 
That has made its crosstown rival SK hynix almost an exclusive supplier of HBM3E chips to Nvidia's GPUs. Its eight-layered and 12-layered HBM3E chips are being supplied to Nvidia and it unveiled the world's first 16-layer HBM3E chips to the global audience at the CES 2025. 
 
Huang made an opening keynote speech at CES 2025 on Monday for the first time in six years. 
 
"Our technology impacts the future consumer electronics," Huang explained. "So they were excited to invite us."
 

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]