NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang Claims Samsung’s HBM Process Is Unreliable; Team Green Separates From South Korean Manufacturer

Jensen Huang, the CEO of NVIDIA, has expressed significant concerns regarding Samsung’s High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) processes, causing friction between the two tech giants. This statement highlights a growing mistrust that is beginning to impact their collaboration.

NVIDIA’s Trust Issues: Leadership Instability at Samsung Raises Red Flags

For context, Samsung has been attempting to position itself as a key HBM supplier for NVIDIA but has encountered numerous challenges along the way. While earlier reports indicated that Samsung’s HBM3 did not pass NVIDIA’s qualification tests, Huang later dismissed those claims. Nevertheless, it appears that as of now, Samsung has made little headway, further aggravating NVIDIA’s frustrations regarding Samsung’s leadership and operational consistency.

According to a recent article by the Korean media outlet Hankyung, Huang has called attention to the frequent changes in Samsung’s executive leadership, asserting that such instability undermines trust. He voiced this sentiment in a pointed critique of the reliability of Samsung’s HBM products and engineering teams, indicating that these issues hinder productive collaboration. Huang remarked:

Nvidia is a customer of Samsung Electronics, not an employee. Stop calling and asking questions. I can’t trust Samsung Electronics’ high-bandwidth memory (HBM) products and engineers. We cannot trust and do business with them because senior executives change frequently.

– NVIDIA’s CEO via Hankyung

The report highlights an ongoing trend where Huang’s stance has soured not only in HBM discussions but across multiple domains with Samsung. Although Samsung has offered its GDDR7 memory modules, Team Green has opted for Micron for its upcoming RTX Blackwell GPUs. Despite assurances from Samsung executives regarding overcoming the qualification hurdles in HBM development, it remains a challenging path for the company, particularly in light of NVIDIA’s shifting preferences.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 'Blackwell' GPUs Reportedly Utilize Samsung's GDDR7 Memory Chips

The implications of this rift are substantial, as securing HBM supply lines with NVIDIA is vital for Samsung’s continuing stability in the competitive semiconductor landscape. Moreover, NVIDIA’s increasing reliance on Taiwanese suppliers reflects concerns regarding Samsung’s historical performance, thereby jeopardizing South Korea’s semiconductor sector’s growth and competitiveness on the global stage.

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