Reports say smugglers hide HBM in low-performance processors bound for China

High-bandwidth memory (HBM) from Samsung and SK hynix is reportedly being smuggled into China inside processor packages designed to make the memory easier to export. The Information reported that low-performance server chips are paired with HBM, then declared as ordinary processors. Workshops in Shenzhen reportedly heat the packages, remove the memory stacks and discard the chips.

The reported method exploits a gap in US export rules published in December 2024. A license is required to ship standalone HBM with bandwidth density above 2GB/s/mm² to China, but a technical note excludes some co-packaged HBM and logic chips, which are assessed by the package’s processing performance. Pairing fast memory with a weak processor can therefore allow a package to qualify for export, according to the report. The rules still cover HBM permanently attached to a logic die used only as a control interface.

This approach has been reported before. SemiAnalysis described a 2025 shipment route involving HBM2E and a low-cost 16nm logic die; Faraday Technology denied breaching export rules, and its president said HBM could not be recovered by desoldering. SemiAnalysis later estimated China had amassed about 13 million HBM stacks by September 2025, including 11.4 million directly from Samsung. Those figures are estimates, not independently confirmed totals.

The Information’s sources say the method has since spread to HBM3E. A Shenzhen broker told the outlet one stack now sells for about $4,000, up from a few hundred dollars a year earlier. An AI accelerator requiring six to eight stacks would use $24,000 to $32,000 worth of memory alone. TrendForce reported that Huawei raised the suggested price of its Ascend 950DT to more than RMB 250,000 (about $37,000), citing memory costs and tight supply; the report does not specify that model’s stack count. SK hynix said it follows US and South Korean export controls and has not supplied Huawei since US restrictions took effect in 2020. Samsung has not directly commented in the coverage cited.