Samsung Electronics Q4 HBM sales miss forecast amid production transition

Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday its fourth-quarter sales of high bandwidth memory (HBM) fell slightly below market expectations, noting its ongoing efforts to enhance the fifth-generation HBM3E may have caused shifts in customer demand.

“In the fourth quarter, the impact of our product plan to improve HBM3E, coupled with geopolitical issues, led to some fluctuations in HBM demand,” the company said during an earnings call after announcing its quarterly results.

“As a result, our HBM sales in the fourth quarter grew 1.9 times from the previous quarter, slightly below our initial forecast.”

The company began mass-producing eight-layer and 12-layer HBM3E chips in the third quarter, expanding its supply of HBM3E products to major graphics processing unit (GPU) providers and data center customers in the fourth quarter.

Sales of the fifth-generation HBM3E surpassed those of fourth-generation HBM3 last year, Samsung Electronics noted.

Looking ahead, the tech giant plans to introduce the improved HBM3E at the end of the first quarter, with mass production of its sixth-generation HBM4 set for the second half of 2025.

The company also plans to double its total HBM supply in 2025 compared with the previous year, ramping up production of the improved HBM3E products to meet growing customer demand.

“Customer demand is expected to shift from 8-layer HBM to 12-layer faster than previously expected, starting in the second quarter,” it said. “Our HBM4 development is progressing as planned, with mass production targeted for the second half of 2025.”

Regarding intensifying competition in the AI hardware industry, Samsung Electronics addressed concerns about Chinese AI company DeepSeek.

The company emphasized it is closely monitoring the market as it supplies HBM chips to multiple GPU producers. HBM is a key component for GPUs, with U.S. AI computing giant Nvidia Corp. maintaining a dominant position.

“There is always the possibility of changes in the industry due to the introduction of new technologies, and it is too early to make judgments based on limited information at this time,” the company said. “We will do our best to respond to the rapidly changing market in a timely manner.”