Samsung Electronics unveiled its 'CUBE' strategy, which vertically stacks memory semiconductors (hereinafter referred to as memory) to increase capacity and bandwidth while improving power and thermal efficiency. The company plans to maintain leadership in memory technology for the AI era through the development of 8th-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM5) and next-generation 3D memory 'zHBM'.
According to the electronics industry on the 1st, at 'Semicon Taiwan 2026' held in Taipei, Taiwan, Jang-seok Choi, Executive Vice President and Head of Product Planning Team at Samsung Electronics DS Division Memory Lisa Business Unit, announced this CUBE strategy to overcome memory technology limits. Vice President Choi attended the 'Memory Executive Summit', a pre-event of 'Semicon Taiwan'.
CUBE specifically refers to △Capacity, △Utilization, △Bandwidth, and △Power/Thermal Efficiency. Samsung Electronics aims to strengthen its leadership in memory technology by simultaneously improving these four elements based on a 3D stacking structure.
First, regarding capacity, the company will vertically expand memory to overcome constraints on printed circuit board (PCB) area. The conventional method of placing memory chips on a plane requires larger board areas as capacity increases, but stacking chips vertically allows for greater capacity within the same footprint.
Samsung Electronics is also advancing memory optimization simultaneously. Vice President Choi explained, "3D is not simply about stacking; the key lies in how each layer is utilized," adding, "We are optimizing logic and memory placement to eliminate data processing delays."
The vertical stacking structure can also reduce the distance data travels. Samsung Electronics plans to build a 'vertical highway' by narrowing the distance between dies, enabling faster data movement and significantly boosting memory bandwidth.
Power consumption and heat issues will also be addressed. As AI accelerator performance improves, the volume of data transferred increases, leading to higher power consumption and heat generation. Vice President Choi emphasized, "The ultimate goal of 3D is to reduce the energy required to move a single bit of data," noting, "We are maximizing performance per watt by enhancing structural efficiency."
The CUBE strategy will also be applied to next-generation HBM products. Samsung Electronics is advancing capacity, bandwidth, power efficiency, and thermal management technologies from HBM2 through HBM4E to HBM5. The developing HBM5 aims to double performance compared to HBM4E while reducing thermal resistance by 20%.
The next-generation 3D memory 'zHBM', whose concept was unveiled earlier this year, is expected to deliver eight times the general performance and three times the performance per watt compared to HBM4E. Thermal resistance will be reduced by 75–90%, focusing on resolving existing HBM performance limits and heat issues.
Samsung Electronics is also developing 'zNAND-O', a NAND flash based on 3D packaging. zNAND-O boasts ten times the bit density of DRAM while offering seven times higher read bandwidth and power efficiency than conventional NAND. Samsung Electronics plans to supply samples of zNAND-O starting in 2028.
Based on world-class production capacity, the company intends to respond to both HBM and general memory demand. Omdia forecasts Samsung Electronics' DRAM production capacity this year at 8.175 million 300mm wafers annually, surpassing SK Hynix's 6.66 million and Micron's 3.66 million units.
However, as major memory companies including Samsung Electronics concentrate resources on producing high-value-added products like HBM, general DRAM supply is expected to become increasingly tight. Since HBM is created by vertically stacking multiple DRAM dies, increased production requires more wafer and advanced packaging capacity. With no significant changes in overall production capacity, a larger share of HBM will reduce the margin for general DRAM production.
The industry views HBM production expansion as a key variable for DRAM supply and demand next year. Some analyses suggest that PC DRAM supply could contract next year. As securing memory becomes difficult, there are also signs of adopting lower-grade DRAM in budget PC products.
DRAM prices are also fluctuating. Market research firm TrendForce predicts that PC DRAM contract prices for the third quarter this year will rise by 18–23% compared to the previous quarter, an increase from its earlier forecast of 15–20%. Last month's contract price for a 16GB DDR5 module rose 20.5% to $247 compared to three months prior.
in INDUSTRY
