📅 November 7, 2026 • Tom's Hardware
On November 6, 2026, The Information reported, citing two people with direct knowledge of the matter, that TSMC recently started charting plans for making 3D DRAM at the request of Nvidia, its largest customer, and Reuters carried the report. A TSMC spokesperson told Tom's Hardware that the company focuses on its core business at all times, which is dedicated IC foundry. Tom's Hardware describes that response as essentially a denial of the report.
Unlike conventional DRAM, which arranges memory cells in a single plane, 3D DRAM places multiple levels of memory cells vertically to increase capacity per wafer. This is different from the high bandwidth memory used with AI processors today, which stacks separate DRAM dies. The Information reported that the effort is overseen by Hsu Kuo-chin, TSMC vice president for advanced packaging and a former head of Micron's Taiwan operations.
Micron, Samsung and SK hynix are all working on their own 3D DRAM projects, and public roadmaps place commercial 3D DRAM around 2030. Tom's Hardware notes that advanced memory technology of this kind is still years from market viability. The report came against a severe, AI driven shortage of memory chips that pushed prices up and sent chip designers looking for additional supply.
On Friday, November 6, TSMC said it does not comment on market rumors and repeated that it is a logic foundry. Neither statement directly says whether such plans exist, and the denial does not address the specific initiative described in the report. The spokesperson said the company's mission is to be the trusted technology and capacity provider of the global logic IC industry.
IMPACT A company that describes itself as a dedicated IC foundry has neither confirmed nor ruled out the specific 3D DRAM initiative reported on November 6, 2026. For chip designers working through a severe memory shortage, the reported work sits alongside three existing programs, as Micron, Samsung and SK hynix all have 3D DRAM projects with public roadmaps pointing to around 2030. Commercial 3D DRAM remains years away from market viability, per Tom's Hardware.
Sources: tomshardware.com - reuters.com - mezha.net - mlq.ai
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