SK hynix has taken to Twitter/X to compare its delicately stacked HBM4 to some deliciously layered s’mores. No, its social media team hasn’t gone mad. The semiconductor giant was simply piggybacking some HBM4 PR on the unlikely coattails of National S’mores Day.
Sweet meets smart — stacked to perfection. 🍫This National S’mores Day, meet HBM4 with Advanced MR-MUF — engineered for superior thermal performance, durability, and precision in the AI era.Experience the sweet sophistication of @SKhynix. #SKhynix #HBM4 #AdvancedMRMUF pic.twitter.com/rTgrj9sEqCAugust 10, 2025
We hope SK hynix paid a human to craft this delicious looking s’mores image. The impeccable typography must have at least been edited by a graphic designer.
Digging deeper into the s’more analogy, there are quite a few reasons why we should forgive SK hynix for this on-the-surface silly comparison. As per the infauxgraphic from the South Korean memory giant, making s’mores has at least five similar process steps as making HBM4.
The most obvious similarity involves the use of “cracker-like chips” coated with “marshmallow-like flux” ahead of multi-layered bonding. But I am personally very happy to have never eaten any marshmallows that resemble flux. SK hynix’s infographic also likens the heating and reflow processes with toasting and heating your s’mores ingredients. Pressure is necessary for both HBM4 and s’more bonding.
Traditional s’mores in the U.S. are a delicious fusion of Graham Crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate. These three basic ingredients take on a new level of deliciousness due to the action of heat and pressure.
This isn’t the first HBM recipe juxtaposition
Principal analyst, CEO, and founder of the Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research, Ray Wang, penned a paper about how China was closing the HBM gap this April. From the grains of wisdom within the substack post, Lennart Heim seemed delighted to share Wang’s likening of the HBM fabrication process to baking baklava.
Good analysis, though I'd say "China making progress on HBM" rather than "closing the gap." 3-4 years delay is ages in AI and semi.HBM is like baklava: layers of complexity. Samsung's partnership with Nvidia shows the lengthy process needed to get it right beyond the node. https://t.co/dqeGdeS0u0April 17, 2025
In case you aren’t familiar with baklava, it is another layered desert, this time with its centuries old roots in pre-Ottoman Turkey. In his comments on Wang’s ChinaTalk piece about the process made by CXMT, Heim was keen to agree that “I mean the "HBM is like baklava," quite literally.”
National Play in the Sand Day, Julienne Fries Day?
According to various online calendars, today is National Play in the Sand Day. However, we haven’t spotted any silicon-centric companies taking this opportunity for a promotional social media tie-in. Tomorrow is National Julienne Fries Day, which is more likely a dud for tech company cross-promotion opportunities, but we would be happy to be surprised.
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