Seoul, May 29 (AHN) Samsung Electronics said on Friday it has begun shipping samples of its latest high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chip, the 12-layer HBM4E, marking the world's first shipment of the next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) memory product.

The move comes just three months after Samsung became the first company to begin mass production and shipments of sixth-generation HBM4 chips in February, underscoring its efforts to strengthen its leadership in the rapidly growing AI memory market.

According to the company, the HBM4E delivers industry-leading performance through optimised chip design and manufacturing processes, reports Yonhap news agency.

The chip supports data transfer speeds of up to 16 gigabits per second per pin, more than 20 percent faster than the previous HBM4 lineup.

The chip also offers bandwidth of up to 3.6 terabytes per second per stack, enabling faster processing speeds for large language models and next-generation AI systems.

"Following the successful mass production of HBM4, Samsung has completed the shipment of next-generation HBM4E samples without disruption, further solidifying its technological leadership in the market," Hwang Sang-joon, head of memory development at Samsung Electronics, said in a statement.

The tech giant said it plans to begin mass production of the HBM4E in line with customer schedules following the sample shipments.

Samsung's customers include major AI companies, such as Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Nvidia and Google.

Meanwhile, South Korean stocks traded higher on Friday as investors were buoyed by reports that the United States and Iran had reached an agreement to extend their ceasefire.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had gained 190.76 points, or 2.33 percent, to 8,376.05 as of 11:20 am (local time).

Overnight reports said Washington and Tehran agreed to a 60-day extension of the ceasefire and further talks on Iran's nuclear programmes.

Wall Street was boosted by the reports, with all three major stock indexes posting record closing highs.

In Seoul, market bellwether Samsung Electronics jumped 4.34 percent and its chipmaking rival SK hynix added 1.4 percent.

—AHN

na/