Samsung rolls out chip doubling flash memory

Samsung Electronics said yesterday that it has developed the world’s largest flash memory chip, which can, hooked into an eight-chip module, store more than 2 hours of video files at DVD quality. The 4-gigabit memory chip is twice as large as the current capacity champion, the company said. “This product is a revolutionary advancement in semiconductor manufacturing technology,” said Hwang Chang-gyu, the president of the firm’s memory division. The company said that it is about nine months ahead of Intel in developing 70-nanometer technology; Intel is now developing and testing 90-nanometer chips. The reference is to the width of the traces on the computer chip that carry electrical signals. The smaller those traces, the smaller the chips can be made. One nanometer is one billionth of a meter. “The number of circuits you can jam in the limited space available determines productivity and cost competitiveness in semiconductor manufacturing,” a Samsung official said. “Compared to 90-nanometer procedures, we could improve productivity by about 50 percent with the new product.” With the development of the chip, the company predicted, flash memory cards would replace small hard disks and digital camcorder tapes much more rapidly. “We have been able to meet only 40 percent of the demand.” Mr. Hwang said. “It is increasing explosively. We believe we could cement our leading position with this product.” Experts say that Samsung Electronics, capitalizing on the new technology, might be able to catch up with the market leader in flash memory, Intel, by the first quarter of next year. According to the U.S. market research firm Isuppli, Intel accounted for 19 percent of the global flash memory market in the second quarter of this year; Samsung had 17 percent. Flash memory chips are mostly used for portable electronics units such as mobile phones, MP3 players, personal digital assistants and digital cameras. Unlike dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips, flash memory chips retain data with power removed. Flash memory chips accounted for 25 percent of total memory chip revenue of Samsung in the second quarter; dynamic random access memory provided 64 percent. But with Samsung’s lead, the flash memory business is lucrative. Flash memory chips are divided into two categories: NOR and NAND, referring to the logic that the chips use to process and store information. Intel sells more than half of the NOR-type products, which are faster. Samsung has more than half of the NAND products, which are capable of storing more information for a given size. NOR chips have about 70 percent of the flash memory market. by Kim Chang-gyu