The milestone sets a benchmark for the next-generation mobile memory market as the enhanced performance is expected to allow mobile device users with reduced latency and faster response times when running large language models (LLMs) in on-device AI environments

“In the era of on-device AI, storage devices are evolving into a key driver defining AI experiences,” said Jangseok Choi, head of Memory Product Planning at Samsung Electronics. “As we successfully move beyond the development stage of the industry’s first UFS 5.0 solution, Samsung is setting a new standard for storage on the go and will continue to drive innovation for the next-generation mobile platform market.”

Generative AI is rapidly shifting from the cloud to the device, driving a surge in the scale of data required for local processing. As a result, storage is evolving from a medium used primarily to store data to core infrastructure that supports AI computation.

Samsung’s UFS 5.0 integrates the latest embedded memory interface standard from JEDEC, achieving high performance levels with a bandwidth of up to 10.8 gigabytes per second (GB/s).

The new storage solution delivers a sequential read speed of up to 10.8GB/s and a sequential write speed of up to 9.5 GB/s, speeds that are respectively more than twice as fast as those of the previous UFS 4.1 standard. This significant advancement enables much faster storage and processing of large data for on-device AI applications.

Power efficiency in Samsung’s UFS 5.0 is also improved compared to the company’s UFS 4.1 solution. This is achieved by implementing a number of new innovations, including clock gating and multi-voltage technologies. These enhancements help to considerably reduce the power required to transfer the same amount of data, drastically lowering overall power consumption and extending the battery life of next-generation mobile devices.

Samsung has engineered the UFS 5.0 solution into an ultra-compact package measuring just 7.5mm x 13mm x 0.9mm — making it 16.7% smaller than its predecessor. This form factor significantly boosts design flexibility and internal space utilization for a wide range of applications, including mobile, wearable and extended reality (XR) devices.

Samsung will begin mass production of its UFS 5.0 in the fourth quarter of this year in a variety of capacities up to one terabyte (TB). Through this breakthrough in UFS 5.0 technology, Samsung continues to innovate and plans to scale up supply to meet the growth of next-generation device markets.

Samsung plans to invest about KRW 20 trillion by 2030 for advanced semiconductor R&D

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced that it held a tool-in ceremony for its new semiconductor research and development complex (NRD-K) at its Giheung campus, marking a significant leap into the future. About 100 guests, including those from suppliers and customers, were in attendance to celebrate the milestone.

NRD-K broke ground in 2022 and is set to become a key research base for

Samsung’s memory, system LSI and foundry semiconductor R&D. With its advanced infrastructure, research and product-level verification will be able to take place under one roof. Samsung plans to invest about KRW 20 trillion by 2030 for the complex in an area covering about 109,000 square meters (m²) within its Giheung campus. The complex will also include an R&D-dedicated line scheduled to begin operation in mid-2025.

“NRD-K will bolster our development speed, enabling the company to create a virtuous cycle to accelerate fundamental research on next generation technology and mass production. We will lay the foundation for a new leap forward in Giheung, where Samsung Electronics’ 50-year history of semiconductors began, and create a new future for the next 100 years,” said Young Hyun Jun, Vice Chairman and Head of the Device Solutions Division at Samsung Electronics.

“At a time when the importance of win-win partnerships is greater than ever, Applied Materials is committed to accelerating innovation velocity through deep collaboration with Samsung Electronics, working together to drive a new wave of growth for the semiconductor industry,” said Park Gwang-Sun, head of Applied Materials Korea.

Samsung’s Giheung campus, located south of Seoul, is the birthplace of the world’s first 64-megabit (Mb) DRAM in 1992, marking the beginning of the company as a leader in the semiconductor industry. The establishment of the new R&D facility will usher in Samsung’s latest developments in process technology and manufacturing tools, extending the site’s legacy of innovation.

NRD-K will be set up with High NA extreme ultra-violet (EUV) lithography and new material deposition equipment aimed at accelerating the development of next-generation memory semiconductors such as 3D DRAM and V-NAND with more than 1,000 layers. In addition, wafer bonding infrastructure with innovative wafer-to-wafer bonding capabilities are also planned to dock.

Samsung invested a record KRW 8.87 trillion in R&D in the third quarter of this year, and continues to push boundaries in developing in future technologies, such as advanced packaging for high bandwidth memory (HBM) production.