Samsung Develops Industry-Leading 12nm-Class DDR5 DRAM... Signaling Strengthened Dominance in Next-Gen Market

Processing Two 30GB Movies per Second... Power Consumption Reduced by 23%
Samsung Electronics to Mass Produce 12nm-Class DRAM Next Year

Tomorrow's Global Strategy Meeting to Detail Next Year's Semiconductor Roadmap

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Pyeonghwa] Samsung Electronics has once again demonstrated its technological superiority by successfully developing DDR5-based DRAM using the industry's leading 12-nanometer-class process. Samsung Electronics announced plans to mass-produce this product starting next year to maintain its dominance as the world's number one player in the next-generation DRAM market. On the 22nd, the company will hold a global strategy meeting to finalize next year's semiconductor business roadmap, including crisis response strategies.

On the 21st, Samsung Electronics announced that it had developed 16-gigabit (Gb) DDR5 DRAM using the industry's leading 12-nanometer-class (5th generation 10-nanometer-class) process and completed compatibility verification with the U.S. semiconductor company AMD. The product was verified and optimized on AMD's central processing unit (CPU) platform, laying the foundation for future mass production and supply.

The 12-nanometer-class 16Gb DDR5 DRAM supports a maximum operating speed of 7.2 gigabits per second (Gbps). This speed can process two UHD movies of 30 gigabytes (GB) each per second. It also features approximately 23% lower power consumption compared to the previous generation product. To develop this product, Samsung Electronics applied new materials with high dielectric constant (K) and implemented innovative designs to improve circuit characteristics.

Through this technological gap, Samsung Electronics has once again established a foundation to lead the DRAM market as a global leader. Previously, Samsung Electronics showcased its technological prowess by mass-producing 14-nanometer (4th generation 10-nanometer-class) DDR5 DRAM, which was the industry's leading process at the time, last year. In March 2020, Samsung Electronics was the first in the industry to apply extreme ultraviolet (EUV) advanced processes to DRAM. Since 1992, Samsung Electronics has maintained its position as the world's number one DRAM market player.

Samsung Electronics plans to expand its 12-nanometer-class DRAM product lineup with improved performance and power efficiency. Starting next year, it will mass-produce 12-nanometer-class DRAM targeting various applications such as data centers and artificial intelligence (AI). The company will especially focus on increasing its market share in the latest DRAM standard DDR5 market. Market research firm Omdia forecasts that the share of DDR5 in total DRAM production will increase from 20.1% next year to 40.5% by 2025. There are also expectations that the related market will fully blossom next year.

Lee Ju-young, Vice President and Head of DRAM Development at Samsung Electronics' Memory Business Division, said, "The 12-nanometer-class DRAM developed with differentiated process technology is expected to contribute to providing a sustainable management environment for various customers with excellent performance and high power efficiency," adding, "It will be a catalyst for the full-scale expansion of the DDR5 market."

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics will hold a global strategy meeting for its Device Solutions (DS) division on the 22nd. The global strategy meeting is held twice a year, in June and December, gathering domestic and overseas executives to review the overall business. Earlier this month, on the 15th and 16th, the Device Experience (DX) division held its global strategy meeting.

The DS division's global strategy meeting, held tomorrow under the leadership of Kyung Kye-hyun, President of Samsung Electronics DS division, will focus on reviewing this year's achievements and concretizing next year's plans for the three major semiconductor business units: Memory Business, Foundry Business, and System LSI Business. Important issues such as future business roadmap configuration are expected to be discussed. An industry insider said, "With the semiconductor industry entering a full-fledged down cycle and the global economic recession expected to continue next year, efforts will be made to prepare crisis response strategies."

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