On Jan. 8 (local time), the third day of CES, a video showcasing HBM4 is playing at the SK hynix booth at the Venetian Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Korea Bizwire) – SK hynix Inc. has ordered new high bandwidth memory (HBM) production equipment from Hanmi Semiconductor Co., a regulatory filing showed Wednesday, possibly indicating preparations for widely expected production of next-generation HBM4 products.
In a regulatory filing, Hanmi Semiconductor, a local chip production equipment maker, said it plans to supply thermo-compression (TC) bonders worth 9.7 billion won (US$6.5 million) to SK hynix by April, without offering further details.
A TC bonder, considered core equipment in HBM production, is used to stack multiple dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips to produce HBM.
The photo shows Hanmi Semiconductor’s “TC Bonder 4” for HBM4. (Photo provided by Hanmi Semiconductor.)
With a single TC bonder typically priced at around 3 billion won, industry watchers said the agreement likely covers three units.
Industry watchers said the models are expected to be the TC Bonder 4, applied for the production of the next-generation HBM4 products.
SK hynix has been speeding up efforts to expand its HBM production capacity amid soaring demand from the artificial intelligence (AI) segment, as it prepares for full-fledged commercialization of advanced HBM4 at its production base in Cheongju, about 110 kilometers south of Seoul.
Earlier this month, SK hynix said it aims to secure a leading position in the memory sector in 2026 by maintaining its leadership in HBM3E while preemptively building an ecosystem for HBM4.
(Yonhap)
