Samsung nears deal to supply over 30% of Nvidia's HBM4 memory in 2026
Jessica Tsai, Taipei; Charlene Chen, DIGITIMES Asia
Tuesday 16 December 2025
Samsung Electronics is close to finalizing negotiations with Nvidia to supply more than 30% of its sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM4) for 2026, aiming to regain market share after setbacks with HBM3E.
Copilot:
Yes — 2026 is shaping up to be a major memory super-cycle (HBM4, LPDDR6, DDR5).
The search results show three converging forces:
1 HBM4 demand is exploding — and supply is already constrained
The TechInsights outlook explicitly states that HBM4 adoption is one of the defining forces of 2026, with Samsung’s D1c HBM4 targeting 16-high stacks and 1.5 TB/s bandwidth.
The EarlyTechGuy analysis reinforces this:
- HBM demand will triple between 2024 and 2026
- HBM is “one of the most constrained components in the entire semiconductor supply chain”
Your Digitimes quote about Samsung supplying 30% of Nvidia’s HBM4 fits perfectly into this picture — Nvidia is locking in multi-year supply because demand is outpacing capacity.
Conclusion: 2026 is the first year where HBM4 becomes a volume product, and demand massively exceeds supply.
2 LPDDR6 and next-gen DRAM are also entering a demand spikeThe EarlyTechGuy report highlights:
- LPDDR5X and LPDDR6 adoption in mobile accelerates consumption
- Windows AI PCs and next-gen CPUs (Zen 6, Nova Lake) require larger DRAM footprints
- Traditional DRAM capacity is shrinking because fabs are reallocating wafers to HBM
This is the classic “squeeze from both ends”:
- AI accelerators consume HBM
- Consumer + PC platforms consume LPDDR6/DDR5
- Wafer supply is limited
- Prices rise across the board
Conclusion: LPDDR6 demand is rising at the same time HBM is cannibalizing DRAM wafer allocation — a perfect storm.
3 NAND is following the same pattern — just 6–12 months behind
The AXTEK market outlook shows:
- NAND market forecast to hit $65B in 2026 and $70B in 2027
- NAND prices already rising in late 2025
- AI will consume 20% of all NAND bits by 2026
- NAND will represent 34% of total AI system value by 2026
The EarlyTechGuy report adds:
- AI training clusters generate exabytes of checkpoint data
- Edge AI and autonomous systems require local NVMe storage
- NAND prices expected to rise 20–30% YoY into 2026
Conclusion: Yes — NAND is entering the same upcycle as DRAM, driven by AI, data centers, and next-gen consumer devices.
Final Answer
Yes — 2026 is shaping up to be a massive year for memory across the board. HBM4 is the epicenter, LPDDR6 is rising in parallel, and NAND is entering its own AI-driven demand surge.
The data from all three sources confirms:
- AI is consuming unprecedented amounts of DRAM and NAND
- Supply expansions won’t meaningfully arrive until late 2026–2027
- Prices for DRAM, HBM, and NAND are all rising
- Memory vendors (Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, Kioxia) are entering a multi-year upcycle
PS
Samsung went kitchen sink on EUV mastery.
Signs of success surfacing.
ASML
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