December 28, 2023 /SemiMedia/ -- According to reports, Nvidia has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in advance to SK Hynix and Micron to ensure a stable supply of high-bandwidth memory (HBM).

The report pointed out that SK Hynix and Micron each received an advance payment of approximately US$540 million to US$770 million from Nvidia for the supply of advanced memory products.

The industry believes that due to the rapid growth of HBM market demand, this is a measure taken by Nvidia to ensure the supply of HBM for its new GPU products in 2024.

Despite the overall HBM market shortage, memory suppliers still face a huge investment burden. Improving the cost and yield of through silicon via (TSV) processes is the most challenging task. As HBM continues to evolve, process and equipment requirements change. Manufacturers use different solutions to address issues such as cooling. As a result, significant investment in technology development is required, and Nvidia's support in the form of significant upfront payments is expected to drive HBM investments by memory makers.