Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced it has begun mass production for the industry’s thinnest 12 nanometer (nm)-class, 12-gigabyte (GB) and 16GB LPDDR5X DRAM packages, solidifying its leadership in the low-power DRAM market.

Leveraging its extensive expertise in chip packaging, Samsung is able to deliver ultra-slim LPDDR5X DRAM packages that can create additional space within mobile devices, facilitating better airflow. This supports easier thermal control, a factor that is becoming increasingly critical especially for high-performance applications with advanced features such as on-device AI.

“Samsung’s LPDDR5X DRAM sets a new standard for high-performance on-device AI solutions, offering not only superior LPDDR performance but also advanced thermal management in an ultra-compact package,” said YongCheol Bae, Executive Vice President of Memory Product Planning at Samsung Electronics. “We are committed to continuous innovation through close collaboration with our customers, delivering solutions that meet the future needs of the low-power DRAM market.”

With the new LPDDR5X DRAM packages, Samsung offers the industry’s thinnest 12 nm-class LPDDR DRAM in a 4-stack structure,¹ reducing the thickness by approximately 9% and improving heat resistance by about 21.2%, compared to the previous generation product.

By optimizing printed circuit board (PCB) and epoxy molding compound (EMC)² techniques, the new LPDDR DRAM package is as thin as a fingernail at 0.65 millimeters (mm), the thinnest among existing LPDDR DRAM of 12GB or above. Samsung’s optimized back-lapping³ process is also used to minimize the package height.

Samsung plans to continue expanding the low-power DRAM market by supplying its 0.65mm LPDDR5X DRAM to mobile processor makers as well as mobile device manufacturers. As demand for high-performance, high-density mobile memory solutions in smaller package sizes continues to grow, the company plans to develop 6-layer 24GB and 8-layer 32GB modules into the thinnest LPDDR DRAM packages for future devices.

¹ Structure with four layers packaged together, and each layer consists of two LPDDR DRAMs.
² Material that protects semiconductor circuits from various external environments such as heat, impacts, and moisture.
³ Grinding the backside of a wafer.

Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced it has successfully completed verification of the industry’s fastest 10.7 gigabit-per-second (Gbps) Low Power Double Data Rate 5X (LPDDR5X) DRAM for use on MediaTek’s next-generation Dimensity platform.

The 10.7Gbps operation speed verification was carried out using Samsung’s LPDDR5X 16-gigabyte (GB) package on MediaTek’s upcoming flagship Dimensity 9400 System on Chip (SoC), scheduled to be released in the second half of this year. The two companies have closely collaborated to complete the verification within just three months.

Samsung’s 10.7Gbps LPDDR5X delivers more than 25% improved power consumption and performance compared to the previous generation. This allows longer battery life for mobile devices and enhanced on-device AI performance, boosting the speed of AI features, such as voice-text generation, without requiring server or cloud access.

“Through our strategic cooperation with MediaTek, Samsung has verified the industry’s fastest LPDDR5X DRAM that is poised to lead the AI smartphone market,” said YongCheol Bae, Executive Vice President of Memory Product Planning at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung will continue to innovate through active collaboration with customers and provide optimum solutions for the on-device AI era.”

“Working together with Samsung Electronics has made it possible for MediaTek’s next-generation Dimensity chipset to become the world’s first to be validated at LPDDR5X operating speeds up to 10.7Gbps, enabling upcoming devices to deliver AI functionality and mobile performance at a level we’ve never seen before,” said JC Hsu, Corporate Senior Vice President at MediaTek. “This updated architecture will make it easier for developers and users to leverage more AI capabilities and take advantage of more features with less impact on battery life.”

Amid the expansion of the on-device AI market, especially for AI smartphones, energy-efficient, high-performance LPDDR DRAM solutions are becoming increasingly important. Through the validation with MediaTek, Samsung is solidifying its technological leadership in the low-power, high-performance DRAM market and is expected to expand the application beyond mobile to servers, PCs and automotive devices.

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that it has developed the industry’s first Low Power Compression Attached Memory Module (LPCAMM) form factor, which is expected to transform the DRAM¹ market for PCs and laptops — and potentially even data centers. Samsung’s groundbreaking development for its 7.5 gigabits-per-second (Gbps) LPCAMM has completed system verification through Intel’s platform.

Historically, PCs and laptops have conventionally used LPDDR DRAM or DDR-based So-DIMMs.² While LPDDR is compact, it’s permanently attached to the motherboard, making it challenging to replace during repairs or upgrades. On the other hand, So-DIMMs can be attached or detached easily but have limitations with performance and other physical features.

LPCAMM overcomes the shortcomings of both LPDDR and So-DIMMs, addressing the increased demand for more efficient yet compact devices. Being a detachable module, LPCAMM offers enhanced flexibility for PC and laptop manufacturers during the production process. Compared to So-DIMM, LPCAMM occupies up to 60% less space on the motherboard. This allows more efficient use of devices’ internal space while also improving performance by up to 50% and power efficiency by up to 70%.

LPDDR’s power-saving features have made it an attractive option for servers, since it could potentially improve total cost of operation (TCO) efficiency. However, using LPDDR can create operational difficulties such as the need to replace the entire motherboard when upgrading a server’s DRAM specifications. LPCAMM offers a solution to these challenges, creating significant potential for it to become the solution of choice for future data centers and servers.

“The energy efficiency and repairability advantages of LPCAMM make this new form factor a game changer in today’s PC market,” said Dr. Dimitrios Ziakas, Vice President of Memory & IO Technology at Intel. “We’re excited to be a part of the new standard enabling the client PC ecosystem and pave the path for future adoption and innovation in broader market segments.”

“With the growing demand in innovative memory solutions encompassing high performance, low power consumption and manufacturing flexibility across various fields, LPCAMM is expected to gain wide adoption in PCs, laptops and data centers,” said Yongcheol Bae, Executive Vice President of Memory Product Planning Team at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung is committed to actively pursuing opportunities to expand the LPCAMM solution market and collaborating closely with the industry to explore new applications for its use.”

LPCAMM is set to be tested using next-generation systems with major customers this year, and commercialization is planned for 2024.

To learn more about Samsung’s LPDDR products, please visit this address.

¹ DRAM: Dynamic Random Access Memory
² So-DIMM: Small outline Dual In-line Memory Module

Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that its latest LPDDR5X DRAM with the industry’s fastest speed of 8.5 gigabits per second (Gbps) was validated for use on Snapdragon^® mobile platforms. By optimizing a high-speed signal environment between application processor and memory, Samsung has surpassed the previous maximum speed of 7.5Gbps achieved in March, reaffirming its leadership in the memory market.

As a global leader in the mobile DRAM market for more than a decade, Samsung has been driving mainstream adoption of high-end smartphones, enabling many more consumers to experience powerful computing performance on their mobile devices.

Thanks to its low-power and high-performance characteristics, LPDDR DRAM is quickly becoming pervasive in modern computing systems, expanding beyond smartphones and into PCs, high-performance computing (HPC), servers and automobiles, where it has enjoyed robust growth in the last few years.

Recently, LPDDR DRAM has seen especially high demand from the PC market, where its ability to combine high performance and low-power consumption in a small form factor is helping PC makers build smaller, lighter and more powerful laptops.

LPDDR memory is also an increasingly important component in modern vehicles. As more and more data is generated through autonomous driving features, high-bandwidth memory like LPDDR DRAM is needed to process massive amounts of vehicle data at much faster speeds.

For data centers and edge servers, LPDDR DRAM’s low-power characteristics can help reduce power consumption levels, resulting in an improved total cost of ownership (TCO) for data center managers, while cutting down on heat and carbon emissions to ultimately lower their impact on climate change.

As the need for faster, smaller and more power-efficient memory increases across various fields, LPDDR DRAM is expected to also extend its presence in emerging markets driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and the metaverse.

“The joint validation of 8.5Gbps LPDDR5X DRAM has enabled us to accelerate market-wide availability of this high-speed memory interface by more than a year, which is a tremendous accomplishment made possible through our long-standing collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies,” said Daniel Lee, Executive Vice President of the Memory Product Planning Team at Samsung Electronics. “As LPDDR memory continues to broaden its usage beyond smartphones into AI and data center applications, strong collaboration between memory and SoC vendors is becoming all the more important. Samsung will continue to actively engage with innovators like Qualcomm Technologies to enhance ecosystem readiness for future LPDDR standards.”

“At Qualcomm Technologies, we strive to be at the forefront of enabling and adopting the latest memory specifications on our Snapdragon mobile platforms. We’re the first in the mobile industry to enable the latest LPDDR5X at 8.5Gbps on Snapdragon mobile platforms, which will enhance user experiences with new features and improved performance for mobile, gaming, camera and AI applications,” said Ziad Asghar, Vice President of Product Management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.