Samsung's future hinges on Nvidia's memory approval

In South Korea, Samsung faced major challenges in the semiconductor market leading into 2025. The technology titan reported disappointing preliminary profits for the fourth quarter, surprising analysts and causing its stock to rise despite unfavorable earnings. This paradox in market behavior underscores the significant influence of Nvidia, a company that holds crucial sway over Samsung's future prospects in memory sales. Currently, Samsung is engaged in a critical race against time to have its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) approved for use in Nvidia's latest products. While the certification process remains unclear, Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang has expressed optimism about Samsung's redesign efforts for HBM, which involve shifting focus from manufacturing costs to energy efficiency and thermal management. The industry relies on Nvidia's approval to access a more competitive market landscape for high-bandwidth memory. However, SK Hynix stands as Nvidia's top supplier of HBM, complicating Samsung's position further since its memory has yet to gain certification from Nvidia. Analysts like MS Hwang from Counterpoint Research emphasize that Samsung's potential success in 2025 is tightly linked to Nvidia's qualification process. Though Huang stated that Samsung could achieve certification soon, there are lingering questions about the timeline and the specific requirements for the redesign. Kazunori Ito, an equity research director at Morningstar, articulated skepticism about the timeframe but acknowledged Nvidia's interest in adding Samsung to its HBM supplier list to strengthen its market position. This intricate landscape highlights the pivotal relationship between leading semiconductor manufacturers and the ramifications of product certification on broader market dynamics.