Samsung Electronics, the leader in NAND flash, has reportedly entered the high-bandwidth flash (HBF) memory market, signaling a potential shift in the competitive landscape of next-generation memory technologies.
Next-gen memory technology
With HBF, which stacks NAND flash for higher bandwidth, and high-bandwidth memory (HBM), which stacks DRAM, both are now considered equally important next-generation technologies. As a result, global memory manufacturers are accelerating the development and trial production of HBF.
According to South Korean media outlet Financial News, industry sources revealed that Samsung has initiated early-stage concept design work on its own HBF products.
Leveraging experience to develop new solutions
Leveraging past research and development experience with similar technologies and products, Samsung aims to develop new HBF solutions that address the growing demands of data centers. However, product specifications and mass production timelines remain unknown as development is still in its early stages.
The key advantage of HBF lies in its ability to significantly boost bandwidth while also expanding capacity. Because of this, it is viewed as a core technology capable of meeting the explosive demands of AI data centers and unlocking new market opportunities.
Addressing growing memory demands
Large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini have evolved into multimodal forms, capable of generating not only text but also images and videos. This requires significantly more data than text alone, leading to geometric growth in model size.
With this development, memory must meet the dual demands of speed and capacity. In response, GPU manufacturers plan to configure high-speed but capacity-limited HBM together with HBF, which can supply large volumes of data, fundamentally transforming memory architecture. As a result, the global memory industry increasingly views HBF as a future business opportunity and is actively investing in its development.
Growing competition in the HBF field
SK Hynix is collaborating with SanDisk to co-develop HBF specifications and plan for the technology's commercialization, aiming to provide samples by 2026 and begin mass production in 2027. Meanwhile, Japan's Kioxia is also entering the competition, launching a 5TB ultra-high-speed HBF prototype in August 2025.
Samsung, with its overwhelming market share in the NAND sector, is seen as a key variable that could reshape the future market landscape. Its formal entry into HBF development could trigger a new wave of competition for dominance in the next-gen memory market and substantially impact overall industry dynamics.
Article edited by Jerry Chen
