Tech companies in China, including Huawei and Baidu, sharply boosted orders for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) from Samsung, as the US considers widening trade sanctions to cover the chips powering AI applications, Reuters reported.

The buying spree meant China accounted for 30 per cent of Samsung HBM chip sales in H1, a source told the news agency, without disclosing a comparative figure for 2023.

Samsung’s memory sales increased 142 per cent year-on-year in Q2 to KRW21.7 trillion ($15.8 billion).

Figures from the Semiconductor Industry Association showed China was the fastest growing region in Q2, with sales of chips rising 21.6 per cent year-on-year. Global semiconductor revenue increased 18.3 per cent to $149.9 billion.

In yet another move to limit China’s access to cutting-edge components, the US government is looking to add curbs on the export of advanced HBM to Chinese companies, Bloomberg reported last week.

The restrictions would hit SK Hynix, Samsung and US-based Micron Technology, which account for the vast majority of global HBM output.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) saw a spike in orders from China in Q2 as domestic companies started to build up inventories for chips after news surfaced the US government was considering expanding export controls, Economic Daily News reported last month.

TrendForce data showed China replaced the Asia-Pacific region as TSMC’s second-largest regional market in Q2, with the country accounting for 16 per cent of sales, up from 12 per cent a year earlier.

Huawei has been stockpiling various chips and components since it was first hit with US sanctions in 2019.