Samsung Starts Production of 8Gb LPDDR4 DRAM; 4GB Smartphones Due Soon

Samsung on Tuesday announced that it has started mass production of the industry's first 8-gigabit Low Power Double Data Rate 4 (LPDDR4) mobile DRAM based on its leading-edge 20nm process technology, which will be ready by sometime in early 2015. The new mobile DRAM will be used for creation of LPDDR4 modules up to 4GB in size for smartphones and tablets.

The company says that based on its 8Gb and 6Gb LPDDR4 dies, it has started providing 2GB LPDDR4 and 3GB LPDDR4 DRAM packages this month, and will similarly produce 4GB LPDDR4 packages, which will be ready by early 2015.

"By initiating production of the 20nm 8Gb LPDDR4, which is even faster than the DRAM for PCs and servers and consumes much less energy, we are contributing to the timely launch of UHD, large-screen flagship mobile devices," said Joo Sun Choi, Executive Vice President of Memory Sales and Marketing at Samsung Electronics.

Samsung claims that the new 20nm 8Gb LPDDR4 offers twice the performance and density compared to 4Gb LPDDR3, which was also based on 20nm-class process technology. The 8Gb LPDDR4 is said to be twice fast than a typical DDR3 RAM used in PCs because of an I/O data rate of up to 3,200Mbps. Samsung also says that the new RAM can support UHD (ultra-high definition) video recording and playback, along with continuous shooting of high-resolution images with over 20-megapixels.

The operating voltage of the new LPDDR4 memory chip is said to be reduced to 1.1v from the previous LPDDR3 memory chip, and Samsung claims this to be the lowest power memory solution available for large-screen smartphones, tablets, and high-performance network systems. Samsung says this reduces power consumption by up to 40 percent.

"For example, in case of a 2GB package, an 8Gb LPDDR4-based 2GB package can save up to 40 percent of power compared to a 4Gb LPDDR3-based 2GB package, due to low operating voltages and faster processing."