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U.S. expands chip export controls to include HBMs in China

Published: 03 Dec. 2024, 09:36 Updated: 03 Dec. 2024, 10:50

JIN EUN-SOO
[email protected]

A Chinese flag is displayed next to a ″Made in China″ sign seen on a printed circuit board with semiconductor chips. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

The United States has announced new sanctions targeting China's chip industry, including export restrictions on advanced AI memory chips, which are expected to impact Korean chipmakers.

The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security outlined these measures on Monday, imposing restrictions on 24 types of chip manufacturing equipment, three categories of software tools for chip development and high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips.

U.S. authorities have classified HBMs as critical for producing advanced computing chips, citing their importance in addressing "national security and foreign policy concerns," according to the Commerce Department.

HBMs of second-generation or higher, such as HBM2 or beyond, are subject to the new sanctions, Bloomberg reported, citing senior U.S. officials. HBM2 is considered an older version of the technology, while newer iterations like HBM3E — used in Nvidia’s latest GPUs — are now industry standards.

The restrictions will affect HBM manufacturers, including SK hynix, Samsung Electronics and Micron. For Samsung, about 30% of its HBM chip revenue reportedly comes from China.

"SK hynix supplies most of its HBMs to Nvidia, and Samsung exports some of its low-spec HBMs to China, but its portion is known to be low," said an official from Korea's Industry Ministry, speaking to Yonhap News Agency.

"We expect the sanctions to have a minimal impact on Korean companies in general."

BY JIN EUN-SOO [[email protected]]