Nvidia (NVDA.US) is rumored to push TSM.US into the advanced memory chip market! The plan is to lay out 3D DRAM production to seize more share of the AI supply chain

The Zhitong Finance App learned that according to media reports, TSM.US (TSM.US), the world's largest chip manufacturer, is considering expanding its business scope to the field of advanced memory chip manufacturing, and has begun formulating plans to produce 3D DRAM (3D Dynamic Random Access Memory) in response to the requirements of its largest customer, NVDA.US (NVDA.US). If this plan is finally implemented, TSMC is expected to further expand its influence in the artificial intelligence (AI) hardware supply chain.

According to media reports citing two people familiar with the matter, TSMC has recently begun studying a 3D DRAM production plan. This trend stems from Nvidia's demand for advanced memory chip supply, reflecting that AI chip designers are actively seeking to expand the supply sources for key components.

3D DRAM is an advanced memory chip technology with a three-dimensional structure design. It aims to increase storage density and provide more technical options for future high-performance computing systems through new storage unit layouts and manufacturing processes.

For TSMC, which has long focused on logic chip foundry and advanced packaging business, getting involved in advanced DRAM manufacturing will mean a further expansion of the business landscape.

Currently, TSMC dominates the global advanced logic chip manufacturing field, and is also an important manufacturing partner for Nvidia's AI accelerators. If it further enters the field of advanced memory chip production in the future, TSMC will have the opportunity to play a role in more key aspects of AI computing hardware.

This potential business expansion comes at a time when the global memory chip market is facing severe supply constraints. As the generative AI and data center construction boom continues, market demand for high-performance computing hardware and supporting memory chips is growing rapidly, driving up the supply of memory chips and a sharp rise in prices.

For AI chip designers such as Nvidia, memory chips are an important part of determining the performance and production scale of computing systems. Supply shortages may not only drive up hardware manufacturing costs, but may also limit the speed of AI infrastructure deployment. As a result, large technology companies, including Nvidia and Apple (AAPL.US), are actively seeking additional sources of memory chip supply to reduce supply chain risks.

The impact of the increase in the price of memory chips has also begun to spread to the consumer electronics market. Earlier this year, Apple raised the price of some products on the grounds of rising storage costs, highlighting that the tight supply of memory chips is no longer limited to the AI server field, but is having an impact on the wider electronics market.

In this context, Nvidia is promoting TSMC's research on 3D DRAM production, which may help it establish a more diversified advanced memory chip supply system in the future.

However, at present, the relevant plans are still in the preliminary research and planning stage. The report did not disclose the amount of capital TSMC plans to invest, potential production capacity, mass production schedule, and whether it will officially launch commercial production in the future.

Furthermore, 3D DRAM is not exactly the same technical route as high-bandwidth memory (HBM), which is currently widely used in AI accelerators, and TSMC's research on 3D DRAM production does not mean that it has decided to enter the existing HBM market.