Microsoft signed a deal with South Korean hardware manufacturer SK Hynix on Tuesday. The Korean giant will become the exclusive supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips for Microsoft’s new AI accelerators.
The agreement focuses on providing HBM3e modules for Microsoft’s latest AI accelerator, Maia 200. Reports state that each processor will incorporate six of these high-performance memory units. The hardware is designed to handle intensive workloads and reportedly boasts a 750W power envelope.
Microsoft announced Maia 200, its second-generation AI accelerator chip for inference workflows, just two days ago. Maia 200 is built on TSMC’s 3nm process and includes native FP8/FP4 tensor cores. The chip supports 216GB of HBM3e memory with 7 TB/s of bandwidth and 272MB of on-chip SRAM. Now we know who will supply the HBM3e memory modules for it.
SK Hynix is one of the biggest RAM manufacturers in the world, as it currently holds over 90% of the global HBM3e market share. This deal with Microsoft has already boosted its shares on the Korean Stock Exchange by 8%, bringing its total market value toward $400 billion.
While both Microsoft and SK Hynix are benefiting from the new lucrative deal, consumers are looking at another market move that likely won’t improve the chances of hardware becoming cheaper anytime soon.
Memory-makers have either closed or reduced their consumer RAM divisions to relocate more resources to building chips for data centers owned by major AI companies. The demand for enterprise hardware is currently so high that manufacturers are struggling to fulfill it. SK Hynix itself entirely closed its consumer RAM facilities to focus on providing hardware for data centers.
The AI race is approaching its full swing in 2026. NVIDIA and Samsung are building their own AI factory that will be powered by more than 50,000 NVIDIA GPUs, while Meta is securing a fiber optic cable deal with Corning for its own AI facilities.
Big companies are extensively profiting from signing exclusive deals with each other, while consumers are saving money for a new RAM stick.
Via: Bloomberg