Samsung may be about to hand part of its most important new chip contract to its biggest manufacturing rival. Reports of a deal covering Nvidia Samsung HBM chips say Samsung will use TSMC’s 3-nanometre process to produce base dies for Nvidia’s next-generation custom high-bandwidth memory. That would mark the first time Samsung has worked with TSMC at the HBM manufacturing stage.
What’s Reportedly Changing With Nvidia Samsung HBM Chips
The Seoul Economic Daily first reported the arrangement on October 18, 2026. It cited industry sources. Reuters picked up the account, according to coverage in The Star. Samsung, TSMC and Nvidia have not confirmed the report themselves. Outlets covering it call it a supply-chain report, not a confirmed three-company announcement.
Why Nvidia Wants a Common Manufacturing Process
Nvidia unveiled its NVHBM memory standard in August 2026. Unlike conventional HBM, NVHBM places Nvidia’s own custom memory controller inside the base die. That gives the base die a more central role in the chip’s design. LetsDataScience reports that Nvidia asked its three major memory suppliers to use TSMC’s process for NVHBM base dies. Those suppliers are Samsung, SK hynix and Micron. Nvidia also asked them to standardize core dies around sixth-generation DRAM. A single shared foundry process would simplify validation for Nvidia. It would also make Nvidia’s custom memory implementation more consistent across vendors.
Samsung’s Balancing Act Between Rival and Customer
Samsung reportedly accepted Nvidia’s requirements after an internal review. It still plans to keep its own in-house production for standard HBM. It will also keep making custom memory it supplies to other customers. Samsung is also weighing whether its own foundry could produce NVHBM base dies itself. That option would matter if TSMC’s manufacturing capacity turns out to be insufficient to meet demand. It’s a hedge that would let Samsung fall back on its own fabs, rather than depend entirely on a competitor for a critical part of its biggest new product line.
A Pattern That Fits Earlier Reporting
A separate TrendForce report from October 9, 2026, said Samsung was exploring a dual-track approach to custom HBM production. Samsung could make base dies in-house or route them through an external foundry, depending on the customer. That report fits an external-foundry option for Nvidia’s business specifically. It doesn’t, though, confirm the specific October 18 arrangement. Taken together, the two reports point toward Samsung increasingly treating TSMC as a manufacturing partner for its most demanding AI memory customer. The two companies still remain direct rivals in foundry services more broadly.
Samsung and TSMC’s Long Rivalry
Samsung and TSMC have competed directly in contract chip manufacturing, known as foundry services, for more than a decade. TSMC has held the largest share of that market for years, while Samsung has positioned itself as the main alternative for companies that don’t want to depend on a single supplier. That rivalry has mostly played out in the production of logic chips, the processors that do the computing. Memory chips like HBM have traditionally stayed inside each company’s own vertically integrated supply chain, with Samsung designing and manufacturing its own memory from start to finish. A move to have TSMC manufacture base dies for Samsung-branded HBM would cross that line for the first time, blending two companies that otherwise compete head-to-head for the same foundry customers. It would not be the first time a tech supply chain has produced unusual partnerships between rivals. Apple, for instance, has long bought components from Samsung even as the two companies compete directly in smartphones. Analysts following the chip sector say this kind of cross-rival manufacturing deal has grown more common as AI chip demand outpaces what any single foundry can supply alone.
What Confirmation Would Mean for the Chip Supply Chain
Confirmation of the arrangement would mark a notable crack in the usual separation between Samsung’s and TSMC’s manufacturing operations. It would also signal how much leverage Nvidia now holds over its memory suppliers as the dominant buyer of AI accelerator components. Reporting so far says little about how SK hynix and Micron plan to answer the same TSMC-process request. That leaves open whether this becomes an industry-wide standard, or stays specific to Samsung’s arrangement with Nvidia.
Related Coverage on Tamara News
For more on the AI chip supply chain, see our coverage of Nvidia’s rapid AI data center build, TSMC’s latest earnings on AI chip demand, and Huawei’s push to close the AI chip gap with Nvidia in China.
Nvidia Samsung HBM Chips: Reader Questions
What is the reported Nvidia Samsung HBM chips arrangement?
A report that Samsung will use TSMC’s 3-nanometre process to make base dies for Nvidia’s next-generation custom HBM memory, first reported October 18, 2026.
Has this been confirmed by the companies involved?
No. Samsung, TSMC and Nvidia haven’t confirmed the report themselves, and outlets describe it as a supply-chain account rather than an official announcement.
What is NVHBM?
Nvidia’s custom high-bandwidth memory standard, unveiled in August 2026, which places Nvidia’s own memory controller inside the base die.
Why would Samsung work with a rival like TSMC?
To meet Nvidia’s request that its memory suppliers use a common manufacturing process for NVHBM base dies, standardizing implementation across vendors.
Will Samsung still make chips in-house?
Yes — reportedly for standard HBM and custom products for other customers, while it weighs whether its own foundry could back up TSMC capacity for Nvidia specifically.
Are other memory makers affected?
Nvidia reportedly made the same request to SK hynix and Micron, though neither company’s response has been reported in detail.
