Samsung Leverages Vertical Integration to Leapfrog Competitors in HBM4E and HBM5
Samsung Electronics is executing an aggressive technology roadmap to regain momentum in the HBM market, where SK Hynix currently holds a leading 57% revenue share (as of late 2025, with Samsung at 22% and Micron at 21%).
Samsung's core strategic weapon is its vertically integrated structure, spanning in-house memory, foundry logic, and advanced packaging. This allows it to offer a unified, full-stack solution that bypasses external foundry bottlenecks.
At the end of May 2026, Samsung began shipping samples of its 12-layer HBM4E chip, pulling ahead of its rivals in the sixth-generation HBM race. The HBM4E uses Samsung's sixth-generation 10nm-class (1c DRAM) process technology coupled with its own 4-nanometer foundry logic base die.
Furthermore, at Computex 2026, Samsung unveiled a physical mockup of its eighth-generation HBM5 chip, which will apply a base/logic die built on its own cutting-edge 2-nanometer foundry process and feature stacked configurations of up to 20 layers. By fabricating the base die on its 2nm node, Samsung aims to maximize power efficiency and heat dissipation, addressing the core thermal bottlenecks of high-layer HBM stacks.
If Samsung successfully completes qualification for HBM4E and HBM5, its massive in-house manufacturing capacity could trigger a significant shift in the competitive HBM landscape.