Samsung to mass produce new mobile DRAM
Samsung Electronics' second-generation 10-nano level LPDDR4X 8-gigabyte mobile DRAM / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics
By Baek Byung-yeul
Samsung Electronics has begun mass-producing its new mobile DRAM that enables mobile device makers to design slimmer smartphones with improved power efficiency and battery life.
The world's No. 1 memory chip maker said Thursday it has started offering clients the second-generation 10 nanometer-class low power double data rate type four (LPDDR4) mobile DRAM for the first time in the industry.
Samsung claimed the second-generation mobile DRAM chip consumes 10 percent less power while maintaining the same data rate of 4.27 gigabits per second, compared to the first-generation 10 nanometer-class 16 GB LPDDR4X chips which are in existing high-end smartphones.
The Korean tech giant said it expects the new mobile DRAM will be adopted in high-end smartphones scheduled to be released late this year or early next.
“The advent of 10 nanometer-class mobile DRAM will significantly enhance next-generation flagship mobile devices that should hit the market late this year or in the first part of 2019,” said Chun Se-won, senior vice president of memory sales and marketing at Samsung. To strengthen the company's memory chip competitiveness, Chun added the company “will continue to grow its premium DRAM lineup to lead the high-performance, high-capacity and low-power memory segment.”
Samsung said it will expand its DRAM chip lineup based on the second-generation 10 nanometer-class process by more than 70 percent. The announcement of mass producing the new mobile DRAM came eight months after the company started mass production on the second-generation 10 nanometer-class 8GB DDR4 server DRAM chips.
Samsung said it plans to diversify its lineup for mobile DRAM packages ranging from 4GB to 8GB to expand its market share. The company began mass-producing the first-generation 10 nanometer-class 8GB LPDDR4 mobile DRAM in September 2016.