Samsung and SK Lead in 'Speed'... US Micron Achieves World's First Mass Production of 232-Layer NAND

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The American memory semiconductor company Micron Technology announced the mass production of 232-layer NAND flash ahead of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Following last year's 176-layer NAND, this year they have mass-produced NAND products with over 200 layers earlier than domestic semiconductor companies.

On the 26th (local time), Micron announced that it has started the world's first mass production of 232-layer NAND. This product processes data 50% faster than the 176-layer NAND and reduces the area by 28%. Micron expects this product to be equipped in high-performance products such as artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing by implementing the industry's fastest input/output (I/O) speed of 2.4GB per second.

Scott DeBoer, Micron's Chief Technology Officer (CTO), said, "This new product will be a milestone in the industry's development of NAND with over 200 layers," and expressed confidence by stating, "Our innovative technology was built based on the excellent chip structure and materials obtained from the mass production of 176-layer NAND." Micron revealed that the 232-layer product is being installed in some products of the Crucial brand solid-state drives (SSD), and additional products based on this technology will be released in the future.

Micron's world-first mass production of 232-layer NAND is significant because it produced advanced chips ahead of Samsung Electronics, the industry leader. Micron is the fifth-largest company in the NAND market with a 10% market share. Last year, it was the first to announce mass production of 176-layer NAND ahead of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Regarding DRAM, another memory semiconductor dominated by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, Micron also unveiled the world's first 10-nanometer 4th generation (1a) DRAM last year, and at an event for shareholders in May, it announced plans to mass-produce 10-nanometer 5th generation (1b) DRAM products within this year.

Regarding Micron's world-first mass production of 232-layer NAND, SK Hynix stated during a conference call on the same day, "SK Hynix also plans to complete trial production of 238-layer NAND within this year and mass production in the first half of next year."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.