Samsung Reveals New Mobile Memory Chip, Makes Way for Smartphones with 2GB of RAM

As devices shrink, so too much storage. It's just how it goes. SSDs have taken the place of HDDs in tighter tablets and notebooks, and Samsung is hoping to squeeze even more out of every memory chip it makes, too. With smartphones becoming a larger piece of the company's bottom line, it makes sense to introduce the industry's first four gigabit (Gb), low power double-data-rate 2 (LPDDR2) memory using 20 nanometer (nm) class technology. The mobile DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chip, which went into mass production last month, will help the market to "deliver advanced devices that are faster, lighter and provide longer battery life than today's mobile devices." Sure sounds good to us.


Clearly, Samsung is aiming at superphones, tablets and mobile devices of the future here. With 4Gb components, the company is able to create 2GB chips that are only 0.8mm, which stack four 4Gb LPDDR2 chips in a single LPDDR2 package. This new package is approximately 20 percent thinner than 2GB packages that stack four 30nm-class 4Gb LPDDR2 chips. Also, the new 2GB package can process data at up to 1,066 megabits per second (Mbps), while spending the same amount of power as that of a previous 30nm-class 2GB package. Benefits of the new 20nm-class 4Gb LPDDR2 will help speed up the growth of the 4Gb DRAM market.

So, all those 2GB phones coming out? Place your bets on what chip is inside.