Report that Chinese firms stockpile HBM from Samsung
Exclusive: Chinese firms stockpile high-end Samsung chips as they await new US curbs, say sources
Chinese tech giants including Huawei and Baidu as well as startups are stockpiling high bandwidth memory (HBM) semiconductors from Samsung Electronics in anticipation of U.S. curbs on exports of the chips to China, three sources said.
The companies have ramped up their buying of the artificial intelligence (AI) capable semiconductors since early this year, helping China account for about 30% of Samsung's HBM chip revenue in the first half of 2024, one of the sources said.
One of the sources said chip designing startup Haawking recently ordered HBM chips from Samsung.
Huawei (HWT.UL), meanwhile, has been using Samsung HBM2E semiconductors to make its advanced Ascend AI chip, according to one of the sources.