TSMC Is Reportedly Considering 3D DRAM Production

TSMC is reportedly weighing whether to manufacture 3D DRAM, potentially expanding beyond its established foundry and advanced-packaging businesses into memory production. The move is being considered at the request of NVIDIA, its largest customer, amid concern that existing memory suppliers - SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron - will not add capacity quickly enough to meet demand. The proposed technology would stack memory in three dimensions, extending the scaling path beyond current HBM designs. Micron has also prioritized 3D DRAM research over bringing its long-studied 4F² cell design to market.

TSMC executive Hsu Kuo-chin, who oversees advanced packaging technologies including CoWoS and CoPoS, could lead the effort; his experience with stacked silicon may help translate the concept into manufacturing. TSMC is evaluating whether to build new factories or acquire an existing facility and convert it for DRAM production. Buying and repurposing a fab could shorten the timeline, since building one takes years. The plans remain at the consideration stage, with no production commitment reported, and TSMC’s potential entry would add another major manufacturer to a sector currently dominated by three established memory companies.