SanDisk HBF tape-out complete; samples expected in 2027
Sandisk confirms that its High Bandwidth Flash (HBF) technology has successfully completed the tape-out phase, marking a critical milestone in the race to replace or augment HBM for AI accelerators.
HBF is designed as a NAND-based alternative to stacked DRAM, offering significantly higher capacity per stack. While current HBM3E stacks reach up to 24 GB (with future variants targeting 48 GB), Sandisk claims its HBF chips can provide up to 512 GB using 16 stacks. This translates to an eight- to 16-fold increase in capacity compared to existing solutions, potentially enabling AI accelerators like Blackwell or Instinct to scale memory from roughly 300 GB to over 4 TB.
The technology aims to match HBM's interface width of 1,024 bits while maintaining comparable costs. Sandisk plans to begin shipping external inference product samples in 2027 for customer qualification and intends to standardize the format under a JEDEC specification to foster broader industry adoption.
To accelerate development, Sandisk has bolstered its technical board with industry veterans Raja Koduri (former AMD/Intel specialist) and Jim Keller. While specific partner details remain undisclosed, the company emphasizes that HBF could eventually be combined with HBM within a single accelerator package.
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