TSMC weighs 3D DRAM push into memory at Nvidia's request
What's the deal? TSMC is considering making advanced 3D DRAM memory chips at Nvidia's request, The InformationDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → reported on November 6, as the AI boom strains global memory supply. The move would push the world's largest logic foundry into a market long dominated by Samsung, SK hynix and Micron.
Why now? AI demand is squeezing memory supply, and Nvidia is working to secure and standardise the chips feeding its accelerators. In October, it reportedly asked Samsung, SK hynix and Micron to use TSMC's 3nm process for the base dies of its custom high-bandwidth memory (HBM).
What's the endgame? For Nvidia, the talks pull its chief foundry partner deeper into the memory supply chain. For TSMC, 3D DRAM would mark a fresh entry into a market well outside its core logic business.
What could go wrong? The plans are still exploratory, with no confirmed investment, capacity or production date. New memory capacity takes years and heavy capital: Micron's $1.8 billion purchase of a Taiwan fab is not expected to ship until 2028.
That makes TSMC's move no near-term fix for the current crunch.
The signal: TSMC shares rose on the report, a sign investors see strategic weight in the foundry eyeing memory. The bigger message is Nvidia's growing reach: it is reshaping the memory supply chain around its own needs, while TSMC tests whether its dominance in logic can extend to DRAM.
Read more: investing.com
Image credit: 曾成訓
