[Peace&Chips] Flash Memory Represented by 'NAND'... Another Sibling is 'NOR'

Infineon, a Leader in Automotive Semiconductors, Highlights 'NOR Flash'
High Stability with Fast Execution Supports Vehicle Functions

NAND Flash Leading Mobile Market with Compact and Large Capacity
Expanding Market as a Representative Flash Memory Product

Editor's NoteSemiconductors, known as the rice of modern industry. Although it's a term we hear every day, it's often hard to explain. Peace & Chips will make the complex concepts and overall industry trends of semiconductors easy to digest for you. Just bring your spoon.

German automotive semiconductor company Infineon recently attracted industry attention by unveiling the 'SEMPER X1'. Infineon’s core businesses are power semiconductors and multi-controller units (MCUs), which are system semiconductors. However, this time they launched a new memory semiconductor product applying new technology. Infineon announced that through the NOR flash-based new product, they plan to expand their niche in the memory market.

Memory semiconductors differ from system semiconductors, which process information such as computation, by storing information. The main products are DRAM and NAND flash. These two products account for about 97% of the entire memory market. NOR flash holds about 2%. NOR flash is less well-known compared to DRAM and NAND, but it is considered a sibling of flash memory along with NAND.

Flash memory is called non-volatile memory because it can retain information even when power is cut off, unlike DRAM which loses data when power is off. Flash memory is divided into NAND flash and NOR flash. NAND is named by combining the two logic gates 'NOT' and 'AND' used in semiconductor circuit design. NOR is named by combining 'NOT' and 'OR'.

As the names suggest, NAND and NOR have different internal structures. NAND’s electronic circuit inside the semiconductor chip is arranged in series (linear arrangement). NOR is arranged in parallel (horizontal arrangement). NAND has slower response speed compared to NOR but requires less area for data storage. This means more information can be stored in the same area.

On the other hand, NOR requires relatively larger area for data storage. This is why its use has declined in mobile devices like smartphones, where miniaturization and large capacity advantages of NAND dominate. Instead, NOR offers faster response speed and higher data stability. The automotive sector is considered a place where these advantages can be maximized. Infineon explains that NOR is necessary for functions like airbags, where quick decision-making is directly linked to the driver's life.

However, looking at the overall market trend, NAND’s dominance is expected to continue. Market research firm Omdia forecasts that the NAND market will grow at an average annual rate of 6.6%, reaching $81.619 billion by 2027. Although the semiconductor market is currently experiencing a downturn due to the global economic recession, it is expected that the market will rebound and opportunities will continue to grow.

Because there are more competitors in the NAND market than in DRAM, fierce technological competition continues in the NAND sector. NAND stores information by stacking cells vertically, so the stacking level is considered a measure of technological capability. Currently, competition around 200-layer stacking is active. Memory leaders Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, as well as Kioxia, Western Digital, and Micron, have all announced plans to compete this year.

This article is from [Peace & Chips], published weekly by Asia Economy. By clicking subscribe, you can receive articles for free.

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