New reports detail a workaround for export controls involving the disassembly of packaged chips.
Actors are harvesting HBM3E memory stacks from logic processors by thermally separating the components to bypass US trade licensing requirements.
This recovery process is reportedly highly inefficient, with significant rates of thermal damage, yet the recovered memory modules are allegedly fetching $4,000 per stack on the black market.
This development highlights the ongoing struggle to control the circulation of specialized hardware components.
How to bypass restrictions
The US allows the export of components that combine memory and a processor, as long as their primary function is data processing. Taking advantage of this exemption, some are combining valuable memory with processors that have no practical value.
These packages pass inspection as finished products. When they arrive in China, they are taken to laboratories where they are carefully heated. There, technicians detach the memory from the useless processors so that they can be sold on the black market. This method is accompanied by high failure rates, as the heat can damage the sensitive material.
The effects on the market
The high demand for these components has driven up prices, with a memory stack costing around $4.000 on the black market. Companies like Huawei have raised the prices of their products, arguing that the cost of acquiring such components is too high.
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While manufacturers such as Samsung and SK hynix produce these memories, SK hynix says it strictly adheres to international export controls. For its part, US authorities have launched criminal prosecutions and arrests of executives for cases of illegal transfer of technological equipment, in an effort to limit the flow of advanced technology to China.
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