SK Hynix-Hanwha Precision Machinery Co-Develops 'HBM4 Core' Hybrid Bonder

SK Hynix-Hanwha Precision Machinery Co-Develops 'HBM4 Core' Hybrid Bonder

SK Hynix is preparing for a clash in the HBM4 market beyond HBM3. As a result, attention is being paid to the "hybrid bonder," which is considered a key technology in the HBM4 era, and SK Hynix is known to be jointly developing the corresponding bonder with Hanwha Precision Machinery.

According to the industry on the 8th, SK Hynix is the absolute powerhouse in the HBM3 market. Hynix is planning to supply HBM3E 12th stage by the end of this year after supplying 8th stage of HBM3E to Nvidia. SK Hynix's mass production of the 5th generation HBM3E 12th stage is the first in the world. Samsung Electronics announced in February that it succeeded in developing 12th stage of HBM3E for the first time in the world ahead of SK Hynix, but SK Hynix was the first person to supply the HBM3E.

As SK Hynix is dominating the HBM3 market, Samsung Electronics' ongoing approval evaluation of Nvidia HBM 3E 8th and 12th stages is more significant in preparation for future HBM4 market opening.

This can be seen from the fact that Nvidia Jensen Huang, CEO of Samsung Electronics' semiconductor division, said in a meeting with executives of Samsung Electronics' semiconductor division this year that if HBM3E is successful, it will guarantee its main vendor status.

Currently, Samsung Electronics is said to be developing hybrid bonding and SK Hynix is said to be developing hybrid bonding two-track with MR-MUF.

As hybrid bonding has technical difficulties, the industry believes that SK Hynix will apply MR-MUF method to HBM4's initial products and continue to research and develop hybrid bonding application. However, at the end of the day, the key to HBM4 competition is which company succeeds in hybrid bonding to HBM4 first, be it SK Hynix or Samsung Electronics.

Above all, Nvidia's supplier policy is highly discriminated against primary and secondary suppliers, so HBM4 with MR-MUF and HBM4 with hybrid bonding may be divided into different categories.

Earlier in 2017, SK Hynix officially developed TC Bonder, which made a significant contribution to HBM3's dominance with Hanmi Semiconductor. This is where SK Hynix's foresight stands out. Since then, Hanmi Semiconductor is the only TC bonder company that has supplied all 5 generations from HBM to HBM3E. The initial TC Bonder of Hanmi Semiconductor was only applied to SK Hynix. This is why Hanmi Semiconductor was called Korea's "Super Eul" company.

Although competitors such as ASMPT and Hanwha Precision Machinery are currently being discussed, it is known that Korea-U.S. semiconductor's TC bonder yield is still unrivaled. In fact, even if competitors appear and lose some of their market share, Korea-U.S. semiconductor is expected to continue to be the "one-top" in the TC bonder field.

However, what stands out is that SK Hynix has officially formulated joint development with Hanwha Precision Machinery, not Hanmi Semiconductor.

In fact, according to the last Hanwha business report, the development of a hybrid bonder between SK Hynix and Hanwha Precision Machinery has been underway since 2021. Hanwha Precision Machinery is also known to be determined to take the lead in hybrid bonders rather than TC bonders. Hanwha Group is also supporting the field.

Korea-U.S. Semiconductor is also developing a hybrid bonder. However, unlike the TC bonder joint development with SK Hynix in 2017, joint development with SK Hynix has not been official.

The industry believes that SK Hynix should also maintain cooperation with Korea-U.S. semiconductors at a time when Micron Technology of the U.S. joined as a customer of Korea-U.S. semiconductors.

"The war between hybrid bond developers lies behind future HBM4 market competition," an industry source said. "Although it is known that Hanwha Precision Machinery's TC bond technology is still lower than that of Korea-U.S. semiconductors, it is clear that it is a threat to Korea-U.S. semiconductors."

"It seems that the threat in the hybrid bond competition system in the future is greater than the TC bonder right now," he said. "The success of Hanwha Precision Machinery's hybrid bond production is likely to lead to SK Hynix's dominance, the success of Cemes is likely to lead to Samsung Electronics' dominance, and the success of Korea-U.S. semiconductors is likely to lead to competition between SK Hynix and Micron."

This is why SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, Micron Technology, as well as suppliers Hanwha Precision Machinery, Semes, and Korea-U.S. Semiconductors are in desperate need of "faster" successful development and mass production.

Meanwhile, the industry expects competition to develop hybrid bonders to become fiercer over time.