Samsung Electronics develops world first 16Gb NAND memory chip

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world's biggest computer-memory chipmaker, announced Monday it has developed the world's first 16 Gigabit (Gb) NAND (not and) flash memory chip, using a 50-nanometer manufacturing technology.

"Memory is opening a bold new world in consumer electronics," said Hwang Chang-gyu, Samsung Electronics' CEO, at a press conference held at Shilla Hotel in downtown Seoul earlier Monday.

"With cards containing multiple 16Gb flash memory chips, you will be able to take your entire music and personal video libraries with you on one small portable device," Hwang said.

The newest NAND flash memory chip can store data equivalent to 200 years of a 40-page broadsheet daily newspaper or 8,000 digital music files, Samsung Electronics said in a press release, adding the new flash memory can also save up to 32 hours of DVD-quality movie files on a single memory card.

The new chip, which was developed at Aug. 14 this year, holds 16.4 billion functional transistors, each measuring one-two-thousandths of a meter, the thickness of a human hair, the release said.

When explaining the meaning of the new chip, Hwang said "The 16Gb device should accelerate further expansion of the NAND flash market across mobile and portable digital applications as an alternative to mini-HDDs (hard disk drivers) and even HDDs for laptops."

Samsung plans to start mass producing the 16Gb NAND flash memory chip in the second half of 2006, according to the release.

It also said the NAND flash market has enjoyed a compounded annual growth rate of 70 percent from 2001 through 2005.

The worldwide sales of NAND flash memory chips are expected to rise to 10.1 billion US dollars in 2005, compared with 7 billion dollars last year, Samsung Electronics said.

Hwang also predicted that the NAND flash will eventually replace other storage mediums, especially those used in mobile products, creating a "Flash Rush."

Meanwhile, at the press conference, Samsung also unveiled first 7.2 Mega-pixel CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Transistor) image senor for high-end digital pictures and Fusion Semiconductors for next-generation smartphones and PDAs, MP3 music players and subscriber identity module card applications.

Samsung Electronics is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2004 parent company sales of 55.2 billion dollars and net income of 10.3 billion dollars.

The company is also the world's largest producer of color monitors, color TVs, memory chips and TFT-LCDs.

Source: Xinhua