SK hynix and Sandisk release first HBF memory standard specifications

SK hynix Inc. (NASDAQ: SKHY) and Sandisk have jointly released the first standard specifications for High Bandwidth Flash (HBF), a storage technology positioned between HBM and SSDs in the memory hierarchy. The announcement was made to coincide with the opening of FMS (Future of Memory and Storage) 2026, held at the Santa Clara Convention Center in California from August 4 to 6.

The specifications were released approximately six months after SK hynix launched its HBF consortium in February 2026, following an initial standardization partnership with Sandisk in August 2025. Google and Tenstorrent are currently participating in the consortium. The specifications were disclosed through the Open Compute Project (OCP).

According to the press release, capacity specifications cover up to 512GB based on two stack configurations using 8-high and 16-high NAND dies. Bandwidth is categorized into three grades, delivering performance ranging from approximately 0.4TB/s to 3.0TB/s. The standard adopts UCIe, an open chiplet interconnect interface, to enable integration with GPUs, CPUs, and other processor types.

At its FMS exhibition booth, SK hynix is publicly revealing for the first time its tenth-generation (V10) 375-layer 4D NAND wafer and products, which are currently under development. The company states the 375-layer 4D NAND delivers 2.5 times greater performance per watt compared to the previous generation. SK hynix said it plans to begin mass production of high-performance eSSDs based on the 375-layer NAND early next year.

On August 4, SK hynix Executive Vice President Kim Chun-sung and Vice President Kang Uk-song will deliver a keynote on tiered memory architecture for AI infrastructure. On August 6, a panel discussion titled "Breaking the Memory Wall with High Bandwidth Flash" will include representatives from SK hynix, Sandisk, and Google DeepMind.

"Through HBF, SK hynix will expand the boundaries between memory and storage and contribute to building new architectures that enhance overall system efficiency," said Kim Chun-sung, Executive Vice President and Head of Solution Development at SK hynix.

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