[News] NVIDIA Reportedly Pushes TSMC 3nm NVHBM Base Dies for Samsung, SK hynix, Micron, Uniting Foundry Rivals

As previously reported by ZDNet in September, Samsung is pursuing a dual-track strategy for custom HBM, tapping both its own foundry and rival TSMC for base die production. A new report from Seoul Economic Daily lends further weight to this strategy, revealing that NVIDIA has asked Samsung, SK hynix and Micron to adopt TSMC’s 3nm process for the base dies of its NVHBM, unveiled in August.

The move brings two fierce foundry rivals, Samsung and TSMC, into closer cooperation despite their competition for major customers such as Qualcomm and Tesla. According to Seoul Economic Daily, NVIDIA’s push to standardize production across suppliers is aimed at ensuring consistent HBM performance while simplifying product validation. Samsung’s Device Solutions (DS) division, which oversees its foundry business, reportedly agreed to the requirements following an internal review.

Beyond manufacturing consistency, TSMC’s yield advantage appears to be another key factor. A separate Seoul Economic Daily report notes that NVHBM’s complex base die design requires advanced logic technology, with industry estimates placing TSMC’s 3nm yields above 90%, versus around 60% for Samsung Foundry’s 2nm (SF2) process.

NVHBM’s custom base die integrates the memory controller traditionally housed in the GPU, underscoring the need for…