The key part of the agreement is indeed the co-development of advanced memory products designed for Nvidia's future platforms. Currently, Nvidia uses HBM, LPDDR5X, DDR5, and 3D NAND memory in various systems, so going forward, SK hynix will develop its new memory with Nvidia in mind. The joint press release says nothing about customization of memory for Nvidia, and while we cannot exclude such a possibility, it looks like the companies will continue to co-develop industry-standard solutions, but will ensure that they are compatible with Nvidia's processors.
In addition, the agreement is intended to address the increasingly long lead times and massive capital expenditures required for the production of advanced types of memory. The two companies will coordinate roadmaps over multiple years. Nvidia will gain greater visibility into future memory availability, while SK hynix secures a guaranteed role in Nvidia's next-generation platforms (i.e., guaranteed demand).
The initial part of the cooperation covers memory destined for NVIDIA Vera Rubin AI systems (HBM4, LPDDR5X, 3D NAND), standalone Vera processors (LPDDR5X), RTX Spark-powered personal computers (LPDDR5X, 3D NAND), and Jetson Thor robotic computing systems (LPDDR5X, 3D NAND).
The deal also extends to semiconductor research and design. SK hynix is deploying Nvidia's CUDA-X libraries to speed up complex chip development workloads, such as technology computer-aided design (TCAD) and computational lithography (CuLitho). In addition, the memory maker is adopting Nvidia PhysicsNeMo to accelerate proprietary simulation software as well as AI-driven physics models used during semiconductor development. In addition, the companies see an opportunity to expand these capabilities into general electronic design automation (EDA) and simulation ecosystems and potentially create tighter relationships within the industry.
AMD and Samsung ink memory supply memorandum for EPYC and Instinct products
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/dram/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/dram/nvidia-and-sk-hynix-ink-multi-year-memory-co-development-and-supply-agreement-seeks-to-address-extended-development-cycles#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/subscription
- [Daily Due Diligence] NVDA NVDA
- AMD's RDNA 5 gaming GPUs are coming late next year, according to AIBs at Computex — manufacturers expect new Team Red cards in the second half of 2027 alongside
- Claude Fable 5 brings Mythos to the masses — Anthropic's new frontier model is 'state-of-the-art on nearly all tested benchmarks'
- SpaceX unveils 11-million-square-foot Gigasat factory, a new manufacturing facility for space-based data centers — aims for 1 GW/year of space AI compute by lat
- Ukraine’s birds adapt to battlefield environment, weaving nests out of drone fiber-optic cables — resourceful wildlife adapts to miles of littered drone fibers
Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.