Samsung Electronics sits at the intersection of nearly every material chokepoint in the AI hardware buildout. It is the world's largest DRAM producer by revenue, a leading-edge foundry operator, and an increasingly critical supplier of the high-bandwidth memory that powers AI accelerators.
On DRAM and HBM, Samsung spent most of 2025 playing catch-up. Its DRAM market share by value fell to 32.7% in the first half of the year — the first time it had dropped below 40% since 2014 — as delays qualifying HBM3E for Nvidia cost it ground to SK Hynix. The recovery was sharp: by Q4 2025, Samsung's DRAM revenue climbed to $19.30 billion, up 43% quarter over quarter, lifting its share to 36% and returning it to the market-leading position, according to TrendForce.
The more consequential shift is in HBM4. Samsung and SK Hynix both delivered paid final HBM4 samples to Nvidia in late 2025, signaling entry into a pre-contract commercial phase. Samsung's HBM4 reportedly delivered the strongest overall results among competing suppliers in key performance metrics during Nvidia's system-in-package testing, and mass production was scheduled to begin at the Pyeongtaek campus in February 2026, targeting Nvidia's Rubin AI accelerators.
On EUV lithography, Samsung was the first company to apply conventional EUV to a 7nm foundry line in 2018 and to DRAM production in 2020. It has since committed roughly 1.1 trillion KRW to purchase two of ASML's High-NA EUV Twinscan EXE:5200B systems, intended for its 2nm foundry lines, with deliveries spanning late 2025 and early 2026.
In foundry, Samsung remains a distant second to TSMC at the leading edge, though it is manufacturing Exynos application processors and has disclosed plans to produce Tesla AI chips at its 2nm node.
The longest-dated bet is in packaging. Samsung Electronics has confirmed a roadmap to replace silicon interposers with glass interposers by 2028, using sub-100×100mm panels to accelerate prototyping. Its subsidiary Samsung Electro-Mechanics established a pilot line at its Sejong facility in 2025 and formed a joint venture with Sumitomo Chemical to secure glass core materials. The strategy aims to vertically integrate the AI packaging stack — memory, logic, and interposer — under a single supplier.