Samsung's HBM3 chips have recently been approved for use in Nvidia's H20 GPU, specifically designed for the Chinese market, with supply expected to commence this month.

This qualification is a significant milestone for Samsung, which has been striving to compete with SK Hynix in the advanced memory chip sector, particularly for generative AI applications.

The high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market is primarily dominated by three key players: SK Hynix, Micron, and Samsung.

In the first half of 2023, Samsung's total DRAM chip revenue was estimated at 22.5 trillion won (approximately $16.4 billion), with HBM sales potentially contributing around 10% of that figure.

SK Hynix forecasts an impressive annual growth rate of 82% for HBM memory chip demand through 2027, highlighting a robust market outlook.

Research firm TrendForce anticipates that HBM3E chips will dominate the HBM market this year, with a significant increase in shipments expected in the latter half.

Following the announcement of the successful testing of its chips, Samsung's shares rose by 4.3%, while SK Hynix shares also experienced a 3.4% increase.

Despite this progress, market analysts suggest that Samsung is still trailing behind SK Hynix in HBM production, particularly in the supply of 12-layer HBM3E chips.

Chinese companies, including Baidu and Huawei, are reportedly stockpiling Samsung's HBM chips in anticipation of potential U.S. export restrictions.

HBM, a type of dynamic random access memory first introduced in 2013, is essential for graphics processing units (GPUs) used in AI applications due to its efficiency in handling large data volumes.

Samsung has faced challenges in passing Nvidia's tests due to heat and power consumption issues, which they have been addressing through design modifications to their HBM3E chips.