Samsung Electronics (005930) plans to more than double production of its HBM4 family — sixth-generation HBM4 and seventh-generation HBM4E — next year. The company will increase outsourced cleaning volume for glass carriers, essential supports used during wafer thinning, to 50,000 sheets per month from 20,000 this year. Glass carrier demand has grown from 10,000 sheets monthly last year and is set to rise 2.5-fold in 2025. These carriers prevent wafer bending during the thinning and drilling required for stacking multiple DRAM dies. Samsung's HBM4 and HBM4E focus on 12-layer and higher stacks. Industry analysts say the carrier volume increase strongly indicates at least a twofold output jump for both products.

In February, Samsung began mass-production shipments of HBM4 using 10-nanometer-class sixth-generation (1c) DRAM and a 4-nanometer base die. In May, it supplied 12-layer HBM4E samples to customers including Nvidia. The industry projects Samsung's total HBM wafer input to grow nearly 40% to about 250,000 wafers monthly next year from roughly 180,000 this year. By shipment mix, the HBM4 family is expected to rise from around 40% to about 80% as HBM4E ramps up. "As Samsung expands HBM production, it appears to be placing HBM4, a high-value product, at the center," an industry official said.