Samsung Starts Mass Production Of 512GB Flash Chip

Samsung has begun mass production of a huge 512GB embedded Universal Flash Storage (eUFS) memory chip for mobile devices.

The new 512GB chip will quadruple the internal memory found in the leading smartphones of today, which typically offer either 128GB or 256GB of internal memory.

The development comes as mobile devices are increasingly used to consume and store vast amounts of data, video, and music, which is straining the storage capacity of some devices.

Higher Capacity

The new 51.2Gb chip consists of eight 64-layer 512Gb V-NAND chips and a controller chip, all stacked together.

The new chip doubles the density of Samsung’s previous 48-layer V-NAND-based 256GB eUFS, in the same amount of space as the 256GB package.

Samsung says this extra storage capacity will provide a much more extensive mobile experience, as it will allow future smartphones to store approximately 130 4K Ultra HD (3840×2160) video clips of a 10-minute duration.

“The new Samsung 512GB eUFS provides the best embedded storage solution for next-generation premium smartphones by overcoming potential limitations in system performance that can occur with the use of micro SD cards,” said Jaesoo Han, head of Memory Sales & Marketing at Samsung.

“By assuring an early, stable supply of this advanced embedded storage, Samsung is taking a big step forward in contributing to timely launches of next-generation mobile devices by mobile manufacturers around the world.”

The new 512GB eUFS is designed to be speedy and energy efficient, as unlike a microSD chip, the  eUFS chip is internal and is able to read and write new data at 860MB per second and 255MB per second respectively.

Strong Demand

This means that it can transfer a 5GB-equivalent full HD video clip to an SSD in about six seconds, over eight times faster than a typical microSD card.

Samsung is currently seeing strong global demand for its memory chips, which has helped offset profit declines in its handset and display businesses.

Its latest results in October revealed that Samsung is likely to become the world’s largest chip vendor this year, with $17.8bn in chip sales for the third quarter compared to about $16.1bn for Intel.

Worldwide memory chip demand is seeing strong growth, with overall memory revenues expected to grow by 58 percent this year, including a 72 percent rise for DRAM and a 44 increase for NAND, according to IC Insights. Samsung is the market leader in the two segments.

It is also worth remembering that Samsung also supplies memory chips to rival handset makers including Apple.

Quiz: Think you know all about Flash storage?