Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said it has developed the world’s smallest DRAM chip, widening its technical lead on competitors as it tracks towards a record operating profit in 2017 driven by the semiconductor business. The South Korean technology giant has started mass producing the chip.
The “second-generation” 10-nanometre class, 8-gigabit DRAM chips with improved energy efficiency and data processing performance would be geared toward premium data-crunching electronics such as cloud computing centres, mobile devices and high-speed graphic cards, Samsung said in a statement.
Thanks to an advanced, proprietary circuit design technology; performance levels and energy efficiency have been said to improv about 10 and 15 per cent respectively.
“For use in a wide range of next-generation computing systems, the new 8Gb DDR4 features the highest performance and energy efficiency for an 8Gb DRAM chip, as well as the smallest dimensions,” the company added. The 2nd-generation 10nm-class 8Gb DDR4 by Samsung is said to offer about 30 per cent more productivity, when compared to company’s 1st–generation 10nm-class 8Gb DDR4.
The global leader in computer chips, televisions and smartphones said it would shift most of its existing DRAM production capacity to 10-nano chips in 2018.
This “aggressive” production expansion would “accommodate strong market demand,” said Gyoyoung Jin, president of Memory Business at Samsung Electronics.
With the appointment of a new generation of top managers in its three main businesses including semiconductors in late October, the South Korean company said it was not looking to expand chip shipments immediately but was investing to maintain longer-term market position.