Overview
- Reports published Tuesday say investigators found a network that mounts restricted high-bandwidth memory (HBM) onto cheap server processors so shipments are declared as the processor rather than the memory.
- The packages are made at hubs in Taiwan, South Korea and Southeast Asia, routed through Hong Kong, and then moved into mainland China hidden in luggage, car trunks and courier bags.
- Once in China, illicit workshops heat the boards to melt solder, pull the HBM stacks off and discard the useless processors so the memory can be sold to local buyers.
- Smuggled HBM3E prices have jumped to roughly $4,000 per stack, making six to eight stacks for a single AI accelerator cost about $24,000–$32,000 and creating a strong financial motive for the trade.
- Samsung and SK hynix say they follow export rules and the reports do not allege direct supplier involvement, but enforcement authorities have not announced a coordinated crackdown and experts say closing the loophole needs multinational action at packaging and transit points.