Competition is heating up among Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron as they focus on improving processing speed and efficiency in graphics DRAM (GDDR) for AI accelerators and cryptocurrency mining. GDDR7, with its faster data processing speed and relatively lower price compared to HBM, is gaining traction. Nvidia is expected to incorporate next-generation GDDR7 in its GeForce RTX50 Blackwell GPUs, leading to fierce competition driven by high demand. The pace of new GDDR7 releases over the past two years is a clear indicator of this trend.
In July 2022, Samsung Electronics unveiled the industry's first 32 Gbps GDDR7 DRAM, capable of processing up to 1.5 TB of data per second. This represents a 1.4 times speed increase and 20% better energy efficiency compared to GDDR6. In February 2023, Samsung showcased its first GDDR7 DRAM with a pin rate of 37 Gbps. Micron also entered the market by launching its new GDDR7 at Computex 2024 in June, offering speeds up to 32 Gbps, a 60% increase in bandwidth, and a 50% improvement in energy efficiency over the previous generation. Shortly after, SK Hynix introduced a 40 Gbps GDDR7, doubling the previous generation's bandwidth to 128 GB per second and improving energy efficiency by 40%.
Graphics DRAM market research by Omdia suggests that graphics DRAM will make up 15% of the entire DRAM market by the end of this year, up from 7% in 2022. The AI boom and companies' rapid adoption of new technologies will significantly shape the market's evolution in the coming years.
