The flash memory present in smartphones is in particular a major issue for Kioxia, Micron, Samsung, SK Hynix or Western Digital.
The long-distance duel over NAND flash memory continues between SK Hynix and Samsung. The second has just responded to recent announcements made by the first.
“Only” 300 diapers at Samsung…
About ten days ago, SK Hynix took advantage of the Flash Memory Summit 2023 in Santa Clara, California to present its first NAND flash memory chips with 321 layers.
The South Korean firm then kept a promise made a few months earlier by offering 1 Tb (128 GB) chips with a density much higher than that of its previous generation, in 238 layers. SK Hynix confirmed the use of so-called TLC chips, for triple level cell or triple level cell, and was quite proud to announce ” a 59% improvement in productivity “.
Its compatriot and main competitor in this sector of activity, Samsung, obviously could not remain without reacting, even if the firm has “only” 300-layer chips to put in front.
… but production underway in 2024
The announcement, however, was not made as formally as SK Hynix’s, and that is the Seoul Economic Daily which, quoted by our colleagues from DigiTimes And TechPowerUpannounces the news.
Currently, Samsung distributes NAND on 236 layers, four more than the American Micron (232 layers), but two less than its national competitor, SK Hynix (238). However, while SK Hynix doesn’t seem quite ready to distribute its new 321-layer NAND yet, Samsung may be out of favor.
According to Seoul Economic Dailythe brand’s 300-layer V-NAND should go into mass production in 2024. The question that arises is knowing when exactly this start of production will take place, and whether SK Hynix has the means to react to this announcement.
Furthermore, remember that the main manufacturers of NAND have very ambitious plans in the relatively short term. On Samsung’s roadmap, we can thus note that NAND with 1,000 layers and more is planned for 2030. Of course, this is only a roadmap.
Source : TechPowerUp
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