“Our new PM9C1a SSD will deliver a robust combination of superior performance, greater power efficiency and increased security, which are the qualities that matter most to PC users,” said Yong Ho Song, Executive Vice President of Memory Solution Product & Development at Samsung Electronics. “We are committed to creating storage that satisfies the diverse and changing market requirements as we continue to advance innovation in the PC SSD space.”

With top-tier speeds, the PM9C1a SSD is ideal for everyday use as well as for more demanding computing and gaming applications. Leveraging the PCIe 4.0 interface, Samsung’s PM9C1a boasts a 1.6x faster sequential read speed and a 1.8x faster sequential write speed than its previous storage offering (PM9B1), reaching 6,000 megabytes per second (MB/s) and 5,600MB/s, respectively. Additionally, random read and write speeds can support up to 900K input/output operations per second (IOPS) and 1,000K IOPS, respectively.

The PM9C1a also offers up to 70% more power efficiency per watt than its predecessor. This means the new SSD can handle the same amount of tasks using significantly less power. Furthermore, when a notebook PC goes into standby mode, the SSD will use approximately 10% less power.

To address the rising need for stronger security measures, the PM9C1a features powerful security. The SSD supports the Device Identifier Composition Engine (DICE) security standard created by the Trusted Computing Group (TCG), a global organization that develops open standards for computing security. DICE securely generates cryptographic keys inside the SSD, providing device authentication to protect against supply chain attacks — cyberattacks that target companies through vulnerabilities in their supplier network — as well as attestation to prevent any firmware tampering.

Samsung’s PM9C1a SSDs will be available in 256GB, 512GB and 1TB storage capacities in a M.2 form factor (22mm x 30mm, 22mm x 42mm, 22mm x 80mm).

“As market demand for denser, greater-capacity storage pushes for higher V-NAND layer counts, Samsung has adopted its advanced 3D scaling technology to reduce surface area and height, while avoiding the cell-to-cell interference that normally occurs with scaling down,” said SungHoi Hur, Executive Vice President of Flash Product & Technology at Samsung Electronics. “Our eighth-generation V-NAND will help meet rapidly growing market demand and better position us to deliver more differentiated products and solutions, which will be at the very foundation of future storage innovations.”

Samsung was able to attain the industry’s highest bit density by significantly enhancing the bit productivity per wafer. Based on the Toggle DDR 5.0 interface* — the latest NAND flash standard — Samsung’s eighth-generation V-NAND features an input and output (I/O) speed of up to 2.4 gigabits per second (Gbps), a 1.2X boost over the previous generation. This will enable the new V-NAND to accommodate the performance requirements of PCIe 4.0, and later, PCIe 5.0.

The eighth-generation V-NAND is expected to serve as the cornerstone for storage configurations that help expand the storage capacity in next-generation enterprise servers, while extending its use into the automotive market where reliability is especially critical.

* Editor’s note: Toggle DDR interface generations — 1.0 (133Mbps), 2.0 (400Mbps), 3.0 (800Mbps), 4.0 (1,200Mbps), 5.0 (2,400Mbps)

This year’s event, attended by more than 800 customers and partners, featured presentations from Samsung’s Memory and System LSI business leaders — including Jung-bae Lee, President and Head of Memory Business; Yong-In Park, President and Head of System LSI Business; and Jaeheon Jeong, Executive Vice President and Head of Device Solutions (DS) Americas Office — on the company’s latest advancements and its vision for the future.

System LSI Business Highlights

In the morning session of this year’s Tech Day, the System LSI Business emphasized its goal of becoming a ‘total solution fabless’ through maximizing the synergy between its unique and wide-range product lineup. As Samsung Electronics’ fabless IC design house, the System LSI Business currently offers around 900 products, which include SoC (System on Chip), image sensor, modem, display driver IC (DDI), power management IC (PMIC) and security solutions.

The System LSI Business not only makes leading individual products, but is also a total solution provider that can merge the various logic technologies into one platform, in order to deliver optimized solutions to customers.

“In an age that requires machines to learn and think as people do, the importance of logic chips, which play the roles of the brain, heart, nervous system and eyes, is growing to unprecedented levels,” said Yong-In Park, President and Head of System LSI Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung will converge and combine its technology embedded in various products like SoC, sensor, DDI and modem, in order to lead the Fourth Industrial Revolution as a total solution provider.”

▲ Yong-In Park, President and Head of System LSI Business, is giving his keynote speech at Samsung Tech Day 2022.

A Vision of Chips With Human-Like Performance

The Fourth Industrial Revolution was a key theme in System LSI’s Tech Day sessions. The System LSI Business’ logic chips are crucial physical foundations of Hyper-Intelligence, Hyper-Connectivity and Hyper-Data, which are the key areas of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Samsung Electronics aims to enhance the performance of these chips to a level at which they can carry out human tasks just as well as people can.

With this vision in mind, the System LSI Business is focusing on improving the performance of its essential IP like NPU (Neural Processing Unit) and modem, as well as innovating CPU (Central Processing Unit) and GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) technology by collaborating with global industry leading companies.

The System LSI Business is also continuing its work on ultra-high resolution image sensors so that its chips can capture images as the human eye does, and also has plans for sensors that can play the role of all five of the human senses.

Next-Generation Logic Chips Showcased

Samsung Electronics revealed a number of advanced logic chip technology for the first time at the Tech Day booth, including 5G Exynos Modem 5300, Exynos Auto V920 and QD OLED DDI, which are essential parts of various industries such as mobile, home appliance and automotive.

Chips that were newly released or announced this year including the premium mobile processor Exynos 2200 were also on display, along with the 200MP ISOCELL HP3 — the image sensor with the industry’s smallest 0.56-micrometer (μm)-pixels. Built on the most advanced 4-nanometer (nm) EUV (extreme ultraviolet lithography) process and combined with cutting-edge mobile, GPU and NPU technology, the Exynos 2200 provides the finest experience for smartphone users. The ISOCELL HP3, with a 12 percent smaller pixel size than the predecessor’s 0.64μm, can enable an approximately 20 percent reduction in camera module surface area, allowing smartphone manufacturers to keep their premium devices slim.

Samsung showcased its ISOCELL HP3 in action by showing the attendees of Tech Day the picture quality of photographs taken with a 200MP sensor camera, as well as demonstrating the workings of System LSI’s fingerprint security IC for biometric payment cards that combines a fingerprint sensor, Secure Element (SE) and Secure Processor, adding an extra layer of authentication and security in payment cards.

Memory Business Highlights

In a year marking 30 years and 20 years of leadership in DRAM and NAND flash memory respectively, Samsung unveiled its fifth-generation 10nm-class (1b) DRAM as well as eighth- and ninth-generation Vertical NAND (V-NAND), affirming the company’s commitment to continue providing the most powerful combination of memory technologies over the next decade.

Samsung also emphasized how the company will demonstrate greater resilience through collaborative partnerships in the face of new industry challenges.

“One trillion gigabytes is the total amount of memory Samsung has made since its beginning over 40 years ago. About half of that trillion was produced in the last three years alone, indicating just how fast digital transformation is progressing,” said Jung-bae Lee, President and Head of Memory Business at Samsung Electronics. “As advances in memory bandwidth, capacity and power efficiency enable new platforms and these, in turn, stimulate more semiconductor innovations, we will increasingly push for a higher level of integration on the journey toward digital coevolution.”

▲ Jung-bae Lee, President and Head of Memory Business, is giving his keynote speech at Samsung Tech Day 2022.

DRAM Solutions to Advance Data Intelligence

Samsung’s 1b DRAM is currently under development with plans for mass production in 2023. To overcome challenges in DRAM scaling beyond the 10nm range, the company has been developing disruptive solutions in patterning, materials and architecture, with technology like High-K material well underway.

The company then highlighted upcoming DRAM solutions such as 32Gb DDR5 DRAM, 8.5Gbps LPDDR5X DRAM and 36Gbps GDDR7 DRAM that will bring new capabilities to data center, HPC, mobile, gaming and automotive market segments.

Expanding beyond conventional DRAM, Samsung also underscored the importance of tailored DRAM solutions such as HBM-PIM, AXDIMM and CXL that can fuel system-level innovation in better handling the explosive growth of data worldwide.

1,000+ V-NAND Layers by 2030

Since its inception a decade ago, Samsung’s V-NAND technology has progressed through eight generations, bringing 10 times the layer count and 15 times the bit growth. Samsung’s most recent, 512Gb eighth-generation V-NAND features a bit density improvement of 42%, attaining the industry’s highest bit density among 512Gb triple-level cell (TLC) memory products to date. The world’s highest capacity 1Tb TLC V-NAND will be available to customers by the end of the year.

The company also noted that its ninth-generation V-NAND is under development and slated for mass production in 2024. By 2030, Samsung envisions stacking over 1,000 layers to better enable data-intensive technologies of the future.

As AI and big data applications drive the need for faster and higher-capacity memory, Samsung will continue to leapfrog bit density by accelerating the transition to quad-level cell (QLC), while further enhancing power efficiency in support of more sustainable customer operations worldwide.

More Far-Reaching Solutions Amidst Greater Collaboration

Samsung introduced an extensive portfolio of storage solutions spanning data center, enterprise server, mobile, client, consumer and automotive applications. The company highlighted its high-performance, low-power computational storage optimized for AI and how it can contribute to eco-conscious computing. Samsung also presented a new DRAM-less SSD, the PM9C1a, which supports both PCIe 4.0 and 5.0.

Samsung then shared aggressive plans to lead the industry in intelligent mobility solutions. The company discussed its wide-ranging memory offerings designed for every modern automotive function, from in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), autonomous driving (AD) and advanced driver assisted systems (ADAS), clusters and gateways to telematics. Since entering the automotive memory market in 2015, Samsung has been rapidly growing its market presence with the intent of becoming the largest automotive memory provider by 2025.

Reaffirming its overriding goals of enhancing customer value and pursuing a customer-oriented development philosophy, Samsung stressed its intent to further expand its ecosystem partnerships. To stimulate more widespread open innovation, Samsung revealed a key element of its blueprint for greater customer collaboration. The company will open a Samsung Memory Research Center (SMRC) where customers and partners can test and verify Samsung memory and software solutions in various server environments. Beginning with the opening of its first SMRC in Korea in the fourth quarter of this year, Samsung plans to later launch additional hubs in the U.S. and around the world, in collaboration with ecosystem partners like Red Hat and Google Cloud.

“With continuing innovations in gaming, 4K and 8K technology as well as AI-driven applications, consumers’ need for high-performance storage is growing exponentially,” said KyuYoung Lee, Vice President of the Memory Brand Product Biz Team at Samsung Electronics. “The 990 PRO provides an optimal balance of speed, power efficiency and reliability, making it an ideal choice for avid gamers and creative professionals seeking uninterrupted work and play.”

Extreme Performance for an Immersive Gameplay Experience

Featuring Samsung’s latest V-NAND and a new proprietary controller, the 990 PRO series offers the highest speed currently available from the PCIe 4.0 interface.¹ The SSD delivers sequential read and write speeds of up to 7,450 megabytes per second (MB/s) and 6,900 MB/s, respectively, while random read and write speeds come in at up to 1,400K and 1,550K IOPS,² respectively. With up to a 55% improvement in random performance over the 980 PRO, the 990 PRO is particularly well-suited for heavy gaming as well as creative and productivity tasks.

High-performance NVMe SSDs are also critical in reaping the full benefits of the latest game console and gaming technologies. Powered by NVMe, the 990 PRO brings faster loading times to PCs and consoles for a more immersive gaming experience. When tested with Forspoken,³ Luminous Productions’ forthcoming action role-playing game supporting the latest game-loading technology, the map loading time was about one second, compared to four seconds for a SATA SSD and 28 seconds for a hard disk drive (HDD).

Ultimate Power Efficiency and Reliable Thermal Control

Built on a low-power architecture, Samsung’s newly designed controller dramatically improves the SSD’s power efficiency by up to 50% compared to the 980 PRO.⁴ Additionally, the 990 PRO employs a nickel coating on the controller and a heat spreader label on the drive for reliable thermal management. Samsung’s Dynamic Thermal Guard technology further ensures that the drive’s temperature stays in the optimal range.

The 990 PRO with Heatsink version offers an additional layer of thermal control while its RGB lights add more style to the drive.

Samsung’s 990 PRO is also an excellent solution for laptop and desktop upgrades as well as for build-your-own PCs, providing a significant performance boost while using less power for increased battery life and thermal management.

The 990 PRO will be available worldwide starting this October with the manufacturer’s suggested retail prices (MSRP) of $179 for the 1TB model and $309 for the 2TB. A 4TB capacity version will become available from next year. For more information, including warranty details, please visit samsung.com/SSD or semiconductor.samsung.com/consumer-storage/internal-ssd/.

Samsung NVMe SSD 990 PRO Series Specifications

¹ PCIe 4.0’s highest theoretical sequential read speed is 8000 MB/s — 990 PRO reaches 7,450 MB/s as of Q3 2022.

² Sequential and random performance measurements are based on IOmeter1.1.0. Performance may vary based on SSD’s firmware version, system hardware & configuration.

* Test system configuration: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 8-Core Processor CPU@3.80GHz, DDR4 3600MHz 16GBx2 (PC4-25600 Overclock), Windows 10 Pro 64bit, ASRock-X570 Taichi

³ FORSPOKEN © Luminous Productions Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved. FORSPOKEN, LUMINOUS PRODUCTIONS and the LUMINOUS PRODUCTIONS logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Square Enix Co., Ltd.

* Test system configuration: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12-Core Processor 3.70 GHz, AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB, DDR4-2666 (16GB x2), Windows 11 Pro 21H2

⁴ 980 PRO provides power efficiency of 1,129/877 MB per watt for sequential read/write while 990 PRO’s is 1,380/1,319 MB per watt for sequential read/write, based on internal test results of the 1TB capacity model.

⁵ 1GB=1,000,000,000 bytes by IDEMA. A certain portion of capacity may be used for system file and maintenance, so the actual capacity may differ from what is indicated on the product label.

⁶ Samsung Electronics shall not be liable for any loss, including but not limited to loss of data or other information contained on Samsung Electronics product or loss of profit or revenue which may be incurred by user. For more information on the warranty, please visit samsung.com/SSD or semiconductor.samsung.com/consumer-storage/internal-ssd/.

⁷ Five years or total bytes written (TBW), whichever comes first. For more information on the warranty, please refer to the enclosed warranty document in the package.

Since the PCIe 5.0 specification was first released in 2019, new server processors supporting the interface, along with peripheral devices, have been introduced to the market one after another. In response to that rapid growth, Samsung Electronics recently developed the PM1743 – a high-performance PCIe 5.0 SSD based on the company’s advanced sixth-generation V-NAND. The new device will help process vast amounts of data more quickly as the increasing popularity of AI services drives market demand for high-performance servers.

Ushering in a new generation of solid-state storage, the PCIe 5.0 SSD is twice as fast as PCIe 4.0 drives, offering a bandwidth of 32 gigatransfers per second (GT/s) and featuring an EDSFF (E3.S) form factor with a thickness of 7.5mm. This allows for easy server scalability, while its enhanced power efficiency and advanced security and reliability support greater speed and accuracy. Together, these elements have the potential to make life and work a little better for everyone.

Incorporating the PM1743 into high-performance server systems maximizes systems’ efficiency and enables superfast data processing. This will not only help save time, but also enable convenient solutions to enhance our personal and professional lives.

The video below highlights how the PM1743 works and how it can help make work and life more comfortable. In a nutshell, the new SSD supports the fast and accurate analysis of huge amounts of data across a variety of fields including everything from smart farms to healthcare and finance.

“For over a decade, Samsung has been delivering SATA, SAS and PCIe-based SSDs that have been recognized for outstanding performance and reliability by leading enterprise server customers including corporations, governments and financial institutions,” said Yong Ho Song, Executive Vice President and Head of the Memory Controller Development Team at Samsung Electronics. “The introduction of our PCIe 5.0 SSD, along with PCIe 6.0-based product developments that are underway, will further solidify our technological leadership in the enterprise server market.”

“Intel has been working with Samsung to test Samsung’s newest PCIe NVMe SSD, the PM1743. Together, we have jointly resolved complicated technical issues encountered with PCIe 5.0 during this initial evaluation period. The performance potential of Gen5 is truly impressive. In the near future, we strongly believe that PCIe Gen5 systems with high-speed NVMe SSDs will have the ability to transform applications such as AI/ML and high-performance databases,” said Jim Pappas, Director, Technology Initiatives, Intel Corporation. “Looking ahead, we are confident that Intel and Samsung’s continued commitment in industry leadership will provide these and other benefits to our mutual customers.”

PCIe 5.0 offers a bandwidth of 32 gigatransfers per second (GT/s), doubling that of PCIe 4.0. Leveraging a proprietary controller designed to support the latest PCIe standard, the PM1743 will deliver outstanding read and write speeds to accommodate the rapidly increasing performance requirements of data centers.

Samsung’s PM1743 will feature a sequential read speed of up to 13,000 megabytes per second (MB/s) and a random read speed of 2,500K input/output operations per second (IOPS), offering 1.9x and 1.7x faster speeds over the previous PCIe 4.0-based products. Moreover, write speeds have been elevated significantly, with a sequential write speed of 6,600 MB/s and a random write speed of 250K IOPS, also delivering 1.7x and 1.9x faster speeds, respectively. These remarkable data transfer rates will allow enterprise server manufacturers deploying the PM1743 to enjoy a much higher level of performance.

In addition, the new SSD can provide improved power efficiency of up to 608 MB/s per watt, which represents about a 30% boost over the previous generation. This is expected to lower server and data center operating costs significantly, while also helping to reduce their carbon footprint.

Available in a wide variety of capacities from 1.92 terabytes (TB) to 15.36TB, the PM1743 will be offered in the conventional 2.5-inch form factor, as well as in a 3-inch EDSFF (E3.S) — an increasingly popular SSD form factor designed specifically for next-generation enterprise servers and data centers. Customers deploying 7.5mm EDSFF SSDs will be able to double the storage density in their systems, compared to when the 15mm 2.5-inch form factor is used. Coupled with excellent signal integrity and thermal efficiency, the EDSFF is ideal for most PCIe 5.0 enterprise solutions.

Furthermore, the PM1743 is expected to be the industry’s first PCIe 5.0 SSD with dual-port support, guaranteeing server operational stability and high availability when a connection to one port fails.

Recently, the importance of data security has been growing stronger in the enterprise server market. To ensure that these needs are addressed, Samsung’s PM1743 will implement advanced security features that were traditionally only available at the server level. By embedding a security processor and Root of Trust (RoT), the SSD will protect against security threats and data forgery to provide data confidentiality and integrity, while also enabling Secure Boot in server systems through attestation.

Samsung is now delivering samples of the PM1743 to global chipset and server manufacturers for joint system development. The company plans to begin mass producing the PM1743 in the first quarter of 2022, as it continues to foster a highly robust ecosystem for the new PCIe 5.0 standard.

The PM1743 has been designated a CES 2022 Innovation Awards Honoree in the category of Computer Hardware & Components.

^* This description has been updated for clarity.

Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced plans to expand its NAND flash production capacity in Pyeongtaek, Korea, reinforcing the company’s ability to meet demands from emerging technologies. Construction, which began this May, will pave the way for mass production of Samsung’s cutting-edge V-NAND memory in the second half of 2021.

“The new investment reaffirms our commitment to sustain undisputed leadership in memory technologies, even in uncertain times,” said Cheol Choi, executive vice president of Memory Global Sales & Marketing at Samsung Electronics. “We will continue to serve the market with the most optimized solutions available, while contributing to growth of the overall IT industry and the economy in general.”

In the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution fueled by artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and 5G expansion, the added capacity will play a major role in helping to address mid- to long-term demands for NAND flash memory. As digital lifestyles become more prevalent, Samsung will continue to be proactive in making new investments in order to seize future market opportunities.

Samsung’s NAND flash production network extends from Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek in Korea to Xi’an, China. Established in 2015, Samsung’s Pyeongtaek Campus is a hub for next-generation memory technologies, consisting of two of the world’s largest-scale production lines.

Leveraging its significant edge in manufacturing and technology, Samsung has held the leadership position in NAND flash memory for the past 18 years, with one recent innovation being the industry-first sixth-generation (1xx-layer) V-NAND introduced last July. Through balanced investment across its global sites, Samsung aims to maintain a robust production network that will further cement its market leadership.

Reference: Samsung V-NAND Mass Production Timeline

“By bringing cutting-edge 3D memory technology to volume production, we are able to introduce timely memory lineups that significantly raise the bar for speed and power efficiency,” said Kye Hyun Kyung, executive vice president of Solution Product & Development at Samsung Electronics. “With faster development cycles for next-generation V-NAND products, we plan to rapidly expand the markets for our high-speed, high-capacity 512Gb V-NAND-based solutions.”

The Only Single-stack 3D Memory Die With a 100+ Layer Design

Samsung’s sixth-generation V-NAND features the industry’s fastest data transfer rate, capitalizing on the company’s distinct manufacturing edge that is taking 3D memory to new heights.

Utilizing Samsung’s unique ‘channel hole etching’ technology, the new V-NAND adds around 40-percent more cells to the previous 9x-layer single-stack structure. This is achieved by building an electrically conductive mold stack comprised of 136 layers, then vertically piercing cylindrical holes from top to bottom, creating uniform 3D charge trap flash (CTF) cells.

As the mold stack in each cell area increases in height, NAND flash chips tend to become more vulnerable to errors and read latencies. To overcome such limitations, Samsung has incorporated a speed-optimized circuit design that allows it to achieve the fastest data transfer speed, at below 450 microseconds (μs) for write operations and below 45μs for reads. Compared to the previous generation, this represents a more than 10-percent improvement in performance, while power consumption is reduced by more than 15 percent.

Thanks to this speed-optimized design, Samsung will be able to offer next-generation V-NAND solutions with over 300 layers simply by mounting three of the current stacks, without compromising chip performance or reliability.

In addition, the number of channel holes required to create a 256Gb chip density has decreased to 670 million holes from over 930 million with the previous generation, enabling reduced chip sizes and less process steps. This brings a more than 20-percent improvement in manufacturing productivity.

Leveraging the high-speed and low-power features, Samsung plans to not only broaden the reach of its 3D V-NAND into areas like next-generation mobile devices and enterprise servers, but also into the automotive market where high reliability is extremely critical.

Following today’s introduction of the 250GB SSD, Samsung plans to offer 512Gb three-bit V-NAND SSD and eUFS in the second half of this year. The company also expects to expand production of higher-speed and greater-capacity sixth-generation V-NAND solutions at its Pyeongtaek (Korea) campus starting next year to better meet demand from global customers.

Reference: Samsung V-NAND Mass Production Timeline

Samsung Electronics the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that it has begun mass producing the industry’s first 512-gigabyte (GB) embedded Universal Flash Storage (eUFS) 3.0 for next-generation mobile devices. In line with the latest eUFS 3.0 specification, the new Samsung memory delivers twice the speed of the previous eUFS storage (eUFS 2.1), allowing mobile memory to support seamless user experiences in future smartphones with ultra-large high-resolution screens.

“Beginning mass production of our eUFS 3.0 lineup gives us a great advantage in the next-generation mobile market to which we are bringing a memory read speed that was before only available on ultra-slim laptops,” said Cheol Choi, executive vice president of Memory Sales & Marketing at Samsung Electronics. “As we expand our eUFS 3.0 offerings, including a 1-Terabyte (TB) version later this year, we expect to play a major role in accelerating momentum within the premium mobile market.”

Samsung produced the industry-first UFS interface with eUFS 2.0 in January, 2015, which was 1.4 times faster than the mobile memory standard at that time, referred to as the embedded multi-media card (eMMC) 5.1. In just four years, the company’s newest eUFS 3.0 matches the performance of today’s ultra-slim notebooks.

Samsung’s 512GB eUFS 3.0 stacks eight of the company’s fifth-generation 512-gigabit (Gb) V-NAND die and integrates a high-performance controller. At 2,100 megabytes-per-second (MB/s), the new eUFS doubles the sequential read rate of Samsung’s latest eUFS memory (eUFS 2.1) which was announced in January. The new solution’s blazing read speed is four times faster than that of a SATA solid state drive (SSDs) and 20 times faster than a typical microSD card, allowing premium smartphones to transfer a Full HD movie to a PC in about three seconds*. In addition, the sequential write speed also has been improved by 50 percent to 410MB/s, which is equivalent to that of a SATA SSD.

The new memory’s random read and write speeds provide up to a 36-percent increase over the current eUFS 2.1 industry specification, at 63,000 and 68,000 Input/Output Operations Per Second (IOPS), respectively. With the significant gains in random read and writes that are more than 630 times faster than general microSD cards (100 IOPS), a number of complex applications can be simultaneously run, while achieving enhanced responsiveness, especially on the newest generation of mobile devices.

Following the 512GB eUFS 3.0 as well as a 128GB version that are both launching this month, Samsung plans to produce 1TB and 256GB models in the second half of the year, to further help global device manufacturers in better delivering tomorrow’s mobile innovations.

* The calculation is based on transferring a 3.7GB full HD movie file from a mobile device with the 512GB eUFS 3.0 to a PC with a non-volatile memory express (NVMe) interface SSD.

※ Reference: Comparison of Samsung’s internal memory performance

Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that it has begun mass producing its fifth-generation V-NAND memory chips with the fastest data transfers now available. In the industry’s first use of the ‘Toggle DDR 4.0’ interface, the speed for transmitting data between storage and memory over Samsung’s new 256-gigabit (Gb) V-NAND has reached 1.4-gigabits per second (Gbps), a 40-percent increase from its 64-layer predecessor.

The energy efficiency of Samsung’s new V-NAND remains comparable to that of the 64-layer chip, primarily because the operating voltage has been reduced from 1.8 volts to 1.2 volts. The new V-NAND also has the fastest data write speed to date at 500-microseconds (μs), which represents about a 30-percent improvement over the write speed of the previous generation, while the response time to read-signals has been significantly reduced to 50μs.

Packed inside Samsung’s fifth-generation V-NAND are more than 90 layers of ‘3D charge trap flash (CTF) cells,’ the largest amount in the industry, stacked in a pyramid structure with microscopic channel holes vertically drilled throughout. These channel holes, which are only a few hundred-nanometers (nm)-wide, contain more than 85 billion CTF cells that can store three bits of data each. This state-of-the-art memory fabrication is the result of several breakthroughs that include advanced circuit designs and new process technologies.

Thanks to enhancements in the V-NAND’s atomic layer deposition process, manufacturing productivity has also increased by more than 30 percent. The cutting-edge technique allows the height of each cell layer to be reduced by 20 percent, prevents crosstalk between cells and increases the efficiency of the chip’s data processing.

“Samsung’s fifth-generation V-NAND products and solutions will deliver the most advanced NAND in the rapidly growing premium memory market,” said Kye Hyun Kyung, executive vice president of Flash Product and Technology at Samsung Electronics. “In addition to the leading-edge advances we are announcing today, we are preparing to introduce 1-terabit (Tb) and quad-level cell (QLC) offerings to our V-NAND lineup that will continue to drive momentum for next-generation NAND memory solutions throughout the global market.”

Samsung will be quickly ramping up production of its fifth-generation V-NAND to meet a wide range of market needs, as it continues to lead the high-density memory movement across critical sectors such as supercomputing, enterprise servers and the latest mobile applications such as premium smartphones.

With its decades-long technology innovation and expertise, Samsung Electronics’ Device Solutions Division provides an extensive range of semiconductor and LED solutions to meet the ever-increasing requirements of the mobile industry. While not always visible to end users, Samsung’s component solutions have been utilized comprehensively to raise the level of what’s possible for mobile devices, and help enable a world of difference in performance and user experience.

Here, we go under the hood, to take a look at some of these solutions.

Leading-edge Processor and Memory Solutions for a Seamless User Experience

One prime example of Samsung’s component innovation is the Exynos 9 Series 9810 processor, built upon the company’s latest 2^nd generation 10-nanometer LPP process technology. The processor delivers powerful mobile computing performance with its 3^rd generation CPU and seamless connectivity with a 6-mode/all network supporting 1.2Gbps DL 6CA Cat.18 LTE modem.

Working in tandem with the Exynos processor is the LPDDR4X memory chip, the industry’s most up-to-date mobile DRAM solution that provides breakthrough RAM performance and energy efficiency. Available in a compact package offering up to 8-gigabyte (GB) capacity, the LPDDR4X enables prompt multitasking and data processing for advanced mobile applications such as 4K UHD video recording and virtual computing.

Also, under today’s heavy multimedia and content use environment, users can safely store their valuable data on Samsung eUFS, an embedded high-speed mobile storage solution for flagship devices. Based on Samsung’s proprietary V-NAND technology, the eUFS features ultrafast data read and download speeds as well as abundant storage capacity as high as 512GB.

Enhanced Imaging and Video Features

The Samsung ISOCELL Fast 2L3, a 3-stack fast readout image sensor with an embedded 2Gb LPDDR4 memory, enables significantly enhanced mobile imaging and video functionality with the ability to record at 960fps for brand new features like stunning slow-motion video shooting. Also among Samsung’s broad image sensor lineup is a front-facing ISOCELL Bright image sensor, which enables high-quality selfies on mobile devices even in very low light settings, using leading-edge pixel technologies.

In addition, Samsung’s Patterned Lens-Integrated Flash LED component, positioned next to the rear camera, enhances the quality of images even further with its high luminous intensity and uniformity.

Reinforced Security, Power and Touch Command Management 

Samsung continues to reinforce security, power, and touch command management on mobile devices through an array of component solutions. For example, its new iris sensor enables a fast yet highly secure option to unlock or authorize application access, and the touch controller enables instant feedback at the tap of one’s finger. Last but not the least, Samsung’s power management IC delivers a stable supply of power, supporting devices to perform with optimal energy efficiency.

As mobile devices continue to evolve, Samsung Electronics’ Device Solutions Division will remain committed to developing and providing its customers with semiconductor and LED technology with distinct value, and providing the best in performance, capacity, functionality and energy efficiency.

This breakthrough was made possible by combining 32 of the new 1TB NAND flash packages, each comprised of 16 stacked layers of 512Gb V-NAND chips. These super-dense 1TB packages allow for approximately 5,700 5-gigabyte (GB), full HD movie files to be stored within a mere 2.5-inch storage device.

In addition to the doubled capacity, performance levels have risen significantly and are nearly twice that of Samsung’s previous generation high-capacity SAS SSD. Based on a 12Gb/s SAS interface, the new PM1643 drive features random read and write speeds of up to 400,000 IOPS and 50,000 IOPS, and sequential read and write speeds of up to 2,100MB/s and 1,700 MB/s, respectively. These represent approximately four times the random read performance and three times the sequential read performance of a typical 2.5-inch SATA SSD*.

“With our launch of the 30.72TB SSD, we are once again shattering the enterprise storage capacity barrier, and in the process, opening up new horizons for ultra-high capacity storage systems worldwide,” said Jaesoo Han, executive vice president, Memory Sales & Marketing Team at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung will continue to move aggressively in meeting the shifting demand toward SSDs over 10TB and at the same time, accelerating adoption of our trail-blazing storage solutions in a new age of enterprise systems.”

Samsung reached the new capacity and performance enhancements through several technology progressions in the design of its controller, DRAM packaging and associated software. Included in these advancements is a highly efficient controller architecture that integrates nine controllers from the previous high-capacity SSD lineup into a single package, enabling a greater amount of space within the SSD to be used for storage. The PM1643 drive also applies Through Silicon Via (TSV) technology to interconnect 8Gb DDR4 chips, creating 10 4GB TSV DRAM packages, totaling 40GB of DRAM. This marks the first time that TSV-applied DRAM has been used in an SSD.

Complementing the SSD’s hardware ingenuity is enhanced software that supports metadata protection as well as data retention and recovery from sudden power failures, and an error correction code (ECC) algorithm to ensure high reliability and minimal storage maintenance. Furthermore, the SSD provides a robust endurance level of one full drive write per day (DWPD), which translates into writing 30.72TB of data every day over the five-year warranty period without failure. The PM1643 also offers a mean time between failures (MTBF) of two million hours.

Samsung started manufacturing initial quantities of the 30.72TB SSDs in January and plans to expand the lineup later this year – with 15.36TB, 7.68TB, 3.84TB, 1.92TB, 960GB and 800GB versions – to further drive the growth of all-flash-arrays and accelerate the transition from hard disk drives (HDDs) to SSDs in the enterprise market. The wide range of models and much improved performance will be pivotal in meeting the growing storage needs in a host of market segments, including the government, financial services, healthcare, education, oil & gas, pharmaceutical, social media, business services, retail and communications sectors.

* Compared to 2.5-inch Samsung SSD 850 EVO

The newest additions to the world’s best-selling SSD series* have been engineered with Samsung’s latest V-NAND technology to handle everything from everyday computing to heavy workloads with ease, offering users the perfect combination of speed, endurance and compatibility. Check out the SSD robots’ epic training montage in the video below.

*Sources: NPD (US data from Jan. 2015 to Oct. 2017) and GfK (EU5 data from Jan. 2015 to Sep. 2017, China data from Jan. 2016 to Sep. 2017)

Samsung Electronics today introduced the 860 PRO and 860 EVO solid state drives (SSDs), the most up-to-date additions to the company’s SATA interface lineup. The products are aimed at consumers who require fast, reliable performance across various applications, from everyday computing to heavy workloads and graphic-intensive operations. Building on the successful launch of the 850 PRO and 850 EVO – the industry’s first consumer SSDs with V-NAND technology – the 860 PRO and 860 EVO achieve industry-leading performance for SATA SSDs, offering enhancements in speed, reliability, compatibility and capacity.

“The new 860 PRO and 860 EVO SSDs combine the latest 512Gb and 256Gb 64-layer V-NAND, up to 4GB LPDDR4 mobile DRAM and a new MJX controller to elevate the user experience for both consumers and businesses,” said Un-Soo Kim, senior vice president of Brand Product Marketing, Memory Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung will continue to fuel meaningful innovations in the consumer SSD space and drive growth of the overall memory industry for years to come.”

As file sizes continue to increase with high-resolution photos and 4K videos, the need for faster data transfers and sustainable high performance over a longer period of time has become paramount for users. To address this need, Samsung’s 860 PRO and 860 EVO support up to 560 MB/s read and 530 MB/s write¹ speeds and offer unmatched reliability with an upgraded five-year limited warranty², or up to 4,800 terabytes written (TBW)³ for the 860 PRO and up to 2,400 TBW⁴ for the 860 EVO. The new MJX controller also enables faster communication with the host system. The controller is powerful enough to handle workstation storage, while improving Linux operating system compatibility.

The 860 PRO are available in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB and 4TB⁵ capacities, with the 4TB memory storage holding up to 114 hours and 30 minutes of 4K Ultra HD video. The 860 PRO is available in a widely compatible 2.5-inch form factor, which is ideal for PCs, laptops, workstations and NAS.

The 860 EVO come in 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB and 4TB⁶ capacities, in a 2.5-inch for PCs and laptops, as well as mSATA and M.2 form factors for ultra-slim computing applications. The 860 EVO has up to six times longer sustained performance than its predecessor due to enhanced Intelligent TurboWrite⁷ technology, with read and write speeds of up to 550 MB/s and 520 MB/s⁸, respectively.

The 860 PRO and 860 EVO SSDs are available from this month with manufacturer’s suggested retail prices starting at $139.99 and $94.99 USD, respectively. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com/SSD, www.samsungssd.com.

Key Specifications

¹ Performance may vary based on SSD’s firmware version, system hardware and configuration. Performance measurements based on CrystalDiskMark v.5.0.2 and IOmeter 1.1.0. *Test system configuration: Intel Core i5-3550 CPU @ 3.3 GHz, DDR3 1333 MHz 4GB, OS – Windows 7 Ultimate x64, Chipset: ASUS P8H77-V

² Five years or TBW, whichever comes first. For more information on the warranty, please find the enclosed warranty document in the package.

^{3, 4} Warrantied TBW for 860 PRO: 300 TBW for 256GB model, 600 TBW for 512GB model, 1,200 TBW for 1TB model, 2,400 TBW for 2TB model and 4,800 TBW for 4TB model.

Warrantied TBW for 860 EVO: 150 TBW for 250GB model, 300 TBW for 500GB model, 600 TBW for 1TB model, 1,200 TBW for 2TB model and 2,400 TBW for 4TB model.

^{5, 6} 1GB=1,000,000,000 bytes by IDEMA. A certain portion of capacity may be used for system file and maintenance use, so the actual capacity may differ from what is indicated on the product label.

⁷ The TurboWrite buffer size varies based on the capacity of the SSD; 12GB for 250GB model, 22GB for 500GB model, 42GB for 1TB model and 78GB for 2/4TB. For more information on the TurboWrite, please visit www.samsungssd.com.

⁸ Performance may vary based on SSD’s firmware version, system hardware & configuration. Sequential write performance measurements are based on Intelligent TurboWrite technology. Performance measurements based on CrystalDiskMark v.5.0.2 and IOmeter 1.1.0. The sequential write performances after Intelligent TurboWrite region are 300 MB/s for 250/500GB and 500 MB/s for 1TB.

⁹ Terabytes Written

Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, has announced new V-NAND (Vertical NAND) memory solutions and technology that will address the pressing requirements of next-generation data processing and storage systems. With the rapid increase of data-intensive applications across many industries using artificial intelligence and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, the role of flash memory has become extremely critical in accelerating the speed at which information can be extracted for real-time analysis.

At the inaugural Samsung Tech Day* and this year’s Flash Memory Summit**, Samsung is showcasing solutions to address next-generation data processing challenges centered around the company’s latest V-NAND technology and an array of solid state drives (SSDs). These solutions will be at the forefront of enabling today’s most data-intensive tasks such as high-performance computing, machine learning, real-time analytics and parallel computing.

“Our new, highly advanced V-NAND technologies will offer smarter solutions for greater value by providing high data processing speeds, increased system scalability and ultra-low latency for today’s most demanding cloud-based applications,” said Gyoyoung Jin, executive vice president and head of Memory Business at Samsung Electronics. “We will continue to pioneer flash innovation by leveraging our expertise in advanced 3D-NAND memory technology to significantly enhance the way in which information-rich data is processed.

Samsung Heralds Era of 1-Terabit (Tb) V-NAND Chip

Samsung announced a 1Tb V-NAND chip that it expects to be available next year. Initially mentioned in 2013, during unveiling of the industry’s first 3D NAND, Samsung has been working to enable its core memory technologies to realize one terabit of capacity on a single chip using a V-NAND structure.

The arrival of a 1Tb V-NAND chip next year will enable 2TB of memory in a single V-NAND package by stacking 16 1Tb dies and will represent one of the most important memory advances of the past decade.

NGSFF (Next Generation Small Form Factor) SSD to Improve Server Storage Capacity and IOPS

Samsung is sampling the industry’s first 16-terabyte (TB) NGSFF SSD, which will dramatically improve the memory storage capacity and IOPS (input/output operations per second) of today’s 1U rack servers. Measuring 30.5mm x 110mm x 4.38mm, the Samsung NGSFF SSD provides hyper-scale data center servers with substantially improved space utilization and scaling options.

Utilizing the new NGSFF drive instead of M.2 drives in a 1U server can increase the storage capacity of the system by four times. To highlight the advantages, Samsung demonstrated a reference server system that delivers 576TB in a 1U rack, using 36 16TB NGSFF SSDs. The 1U reference system can process about 10 million random read IOPS, which triples the IOPS performance of a 1U server equipped with 2.5-inch SSDs. A petabyte capacity can be achieved using only two of the 576TB systems.

Samsung plans to begin mass producing its first NGSFF SSDs in the fourth quarter of this year, while working to standardize the form factor with industry partners.

Z-SSD: Optimized for Systems Requiring Fast Memory Responsiveness

Following last year’s introduction of its Z-SSD technology, Samsung introduced its first Z-SSD product, the SZ985. Featuring ultra-low latency and high performance, the Z-SSD will be used in data centers and enterprise systems dealing with extremely large, data-intensive tasks such as real-time “big data” analytics and high-performance server caching. Samsung is collaborating with several of its customers on integrating the Z-SSD in upcoming applications.

The Samsung SZ985 requires only 15 microseconds of read latency time which is approximately a seventh of the read latency of an NVMe*** SSD. At the application level, the use of Samsung’s Z-SSDs can reduce system response time by up to 12 times, compared to using NVMe SSDs.

With its fast response time, the new Z-SSD will play a pivotal role in eliminating storage bottlenecks in the enterprise and in improving the total cost of ownership (TCO).

New Approach to Storage with Proprietary Key Value SSD Technology

Samsung also introduced a completely new technology called Key Value SSD. The name refers to a highly innovative method of processing complex data sets. With the sharply increasing use of social media services and IoT applications, which contribute to the creation of object data such as text, image, audio and video files, the complexity in processing this data increases substantially.

Today, SSDs convert object data of widely ranging sizes into data fragments of a specific size called “blocks.” The use of these blocks requires implementation processes consisting of LBA (logical block addressing) and PBA (physical block addressing) steps. However, Samsung’s new Key Value SSD technology allows SSDs to process data without converting it into blocks. Samsung’s Key Value instead assigns a ‘key’ or specific location to each ”value,” or piece of object data – regardless of its size. The key enables direct addressing of a data location, which in turn enables the storage to be scaled. Samsung’s Key Value technology enables SSDs to scale-up (vertically) and scale-out (horizontally) in performance and capacity. As a result, when data is read or written, a Key Value SSD can reduce redundant steps, which leads to faster data inputs and outputs, as well as increasing TCO and significantly extending the life of an SSD.

* Editor’s Note: Samsung Tech Day hosted at Samsung’s Silicon Valley headquarters on Monday August 7th, showcased “Samsung@the Heart of Storage” and provided insights into the company’s plans to deliver IT products that support the big data explosion, give greater access to massive real-time data sets, and provide real-time, fast data capabilities. The event also hosted an executive, customer and analyst panel, and displayed product demos across Samsung’s comprehensive product ecosystem.

** Editor’s Note: Flash Memory Summit (FMS), produced by Conference ConCepts, showcases the mainstream applications, key technologies and leading vendors that are driving the multi-billion dollar non-volatile memory and SSD markets. FMS is reportedly the world’s largest event featuring the trends, innovations, and influencers driving the adoption of flash memory in demanding enterprise storage applications, as well as in smartphones, tablets, and mobile and embedded systems. For more information, please visit at www.flashmemorysummit.com/

*** Editors’ Note: Often shortened as NVMe, NVM Express (Non-Volatile Memory Express) is a high performance, scalable host controller interface with a streamlined ‘register and command’ set that has been optimized for enterprise and client systems using PCIe SSDs. For more information, please visit www.nvmexpress.org

Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek Line 1

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today announced that its new semiconductor fabrication line in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, has begun mass production and shipping its first product to customers. The new facility will focus on the production of Samsung’s fourth-generation V-NAND (64 layers), adding to the company’s leading capacity for cutting-edge memory products.

“With the dedication and support of our employees, customers and partners, our new Pyeongtaek campus represents a new chapter in Samsung’s semiconductor operations,” said Oh-Hyun Kwon, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Samsung Electronics.

With two years of construction since it broke ground in May, 2015, the fabrication line at the Pyeongtaek campus is currently the largest single Fab in the industry.

Recent emerging IT trends such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), big data and automotive technologies has sharply increased demand for next-generation components. In response to these market needs, Samsung, across both Samsung Electronics and Samsung Display, plans to reinforce its manufacturing capabilities by investing more than KRW 37 trillion in investments to its global production facilities.

• By 2021, Samsung will invest a total of KRW 30 trillion into its current Pyeongtaek line to expand its semiconductor fabrication capacity
• Samsung also plans to invest KRW 6 trillion in its Hwaseong, South Korea, site for a semiconductor fabrication line optimized to install state-of-the-art infrastructure including Extreme Ultra Violet (EUV) equipment
• Samsung Display is reviewing plans to establish a new OLED manufacturing site in Asan, South Korea, by 2018

Samsung Electronics celebrated the first chip shipment from its new Pyeongtaek Line

In addition, Samsung’s plans to construct a second semiconductor fabrication line in Xi’an, China, site are also under review. Samsung’s first semiconductor fabrication line in Xi’an was constructed in 2014 and is presently in full operation.

With the new investments, Samsung aims to strengthen its global fabrication network and accelerate the overall development of the IT industry.

Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that it has begun volume production of 64-layer, 256Gb V-NAND flash memory for use with an expanding line-up of storage solutions for server, PC and mobile applications.

Since Samsung began producing the industry’s first SSD based on 64-layer 256Gb V-NAND chips in January for key IT customers, it has been working on a wide range of new V-NAND-based mobile and consumer storage solutions. These include embedded UFS memory, branded SSDs and external memory cards, which the company plans to introduce later this year.

To solidify its competitive edge in the memory market, Samsung intends for its volume production of the 64-layer V-NAND chip, which is widely referred to as 4^th generation V-NAND, to cover more than 50 percent of its monthly NAND flash production by year end.

“Following a long commitment to innovative technology, we will continuously push the limits of generations of industry-first V-NAND production, in moving the industry closer to the advent of the terabit V-NAND era,” said Kye Hyun Kyung, Executive Vice President of the Flash Product and Technology team, Memory Business at Samsung Electronics. “We will keep developing next-generation V-NAND products in sync with the global IT industry so that we can contribute to the timeliest launches of new systems and services, in bringing a higher level of satisfaction to consumers.”

The Samsung 64-layer 3-bit 256Gb V-NAND features a data transfer speed of 1Gbps (gigabit per second), which is the fastest among currently available NAND flash memory. Also, the V-NAND has the industry’s shortest page program time (tPROG)* of 500 microseconds (㎲) among NAND flash memory, which is about four times faster than that of a typical 10-nanometer (nm) class, planar NAND flash memory and approximately 1.5 times faster than that of Samsung’s fastest 48-layer 3-bit 256Gb V-NAND flash. With today’s ample supply of leading-edge V-NAND products, Samsung expects that the industry will now focus more on the high performance and reliability of memory storage, rather than immerse itself in a chip scaling race.

The new 64-layer 256Gb V-NAND provides more than a 30 percent productivity gain, compared to the 48-layer 256Gb V-NAND that preceded it. In addition, the 64-layer V-NAND has a 2.5V input voltage for its circuits, which leads to approximately 30 percent greater energy efficiency than the 3.3 volts that 48-layer V-NAND used. Also, the reliability of the new V-NAND cell increased by about 20 percent compared to its predecessor.

Samsung enabled these improvements by tackling a diversity of challenges that appear in the advanced V-NAND manufacturing process. Chief among them were realizing multi-billion channel holes that penetrate several dozen layers of cell-arrays, and minimizing the loss of electrons from about 85.3 billion cells.

As the layers of cell arrays increase, the level of technological difficulty also increases, especially in making the channel holes homogeneous in their shape from the top to the bottom layer, and in properly dispersing the weight of all the layers to improve the stability of the channel holes.

Another challenge that Samsung overcame was to realize 64 layers of cell arrays based on 3D CTF (charge trap flash) structure and uniformly cover the inner side of each channel hole with an atomically thin, non-conductive substance. This led to the creation of smaller cells with improved performance and reliability.

Based on 15 years of research into its proprietary V-NAND 3D structure, Samsung has formed the basis for more than 500 patents related to essential technological findings, and filed applications for them in many countries including Korea, the U.S. and Japan. Based on its success with 64-layer V-NAND, Samsung has secured the fundamental technology that it needs in the future to produce V-NAND chips with one terabit capacity and more, by stacking over 90 layers of cell arrays.

Samsung Electronics rewrote the book on digital data storage with the introduction of its next chapter: V-NAND technology. As outlined in the video above, this revolutionary new paradigm in memory semiconductors doubles processing speeds and halves power consumption in solid-state drives (SSDs) — currently used in a wide range of applications, from client PCs to enterprise servers.

Prior to V-NAND technology’s introduction, SSD memory had traditionally been increased by cramming more cells into a limited 2D plane. Because placing the cells too closely together can ultimately compromise reliability, this new approach instead stacks them three-dimensionally. To illustrate, imagine a building, where instead of cramming more rooms into the fixed space of a single floor, you increase capacity by building new levels. This construction alleviates issues associated with shrinking NAND lithography and makes it possible for enterprises to adopt SSDs with faster response rates and larger capacities.

With the layered innovation, Samsung has added new depth to memory semiconductor technology. This will not only accelerate developments in cloud computing, real-time analysis and big data networks, but also advance the era of IoT, wherein immense amounts of data will need to be processed and transferred faster than ever before.

Samsung Electronics, a worldwide leader in advanced memory solutions for more than two decades, today unveiled the Samsung 960 PRO and 960 EVO, its newest solid state drives (SSDs). The V-NAND based, M.2 form factor SSDs were built on the company’s category-defining Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) SSD leadership. With powerful performance, endurance and capacity topped with all new and more robust Samsung Magician software package, Samsung continues to accelerate the NVMe era.

Packed with more technology and innovation than ever, the 960 PRO and 960 EVO are designed for users who seek smaller and faster storage solutions that deliver higher bandwidth and lower latency for processing massive amounts of data for everything from gaming and large file transfers to 4K video rendering, data analytics and more on their ultra-thin notebooks and PCs.

Both the 960 PRO and 960 EVO use the Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) Gen.3 x4 lane interface and are compliant with NVMe specifications to realize effective use of the high-speed PCIe bus and optimize both hardware and software configurations to take advantage of the NVMe SSD technology. The SSDs feature Samsung Dynamic Thermal Guard technology to manage performance during extreme workloads.

“For more than 30 years, Samsung has continued to push the boundaries of what is possible to deliver innovative consumer memory experiences.” said Un-Soo Kim, Senior Vice President of Branded Product Marketing, Memory Business at Samsung Electronics. “Our V-NAND technology for NVMe-based storage products is our most recent advancement in the NVMe era.”

The 960 PRO and 960 EVO SSDs redefine the personal computer performance, in part attributed to new controller which raises the bar of consumer SSD performance. The 960 PRO delivers peak sequential read and write transfer speeds of 3,500 MB/s and 2,100 MB/s, respectively, and random read and write IOPS of up to 440,000 and 360,000.¹

On top of being the world’s fastest M.2 NVMe- SSD, the 960 PRO will also offer 2 terabyte (TB) capacity, which is the highest capacity commercially available for M.2 NVMe SSDs, along with 512GB and 1TB versions.² The 960 PRO’s high density was made possible by Samsung V-NAND technology and the uniquely restructured package design. As user capacity demand trends continue to rise, the high-density 960 PRO capacities are poised to conveniently meet the needs of personal data and information storage. The 960 PRO promises additional reliability and endurance with the five-year limited warranty and up to 1.2 petabytes written (PBW), whichever occurs first, for the 2TB capacity.

“We were proud to erect the NVMe era last year with the introduction of our 950 PRO SSD. Now, with the introduction of the NVMe 960 PRO and 960 EVO SSDs, Samsung is once again taking the next step in the multi-terabyte SSD technology and the storage revolution, providing users higher capacities and speeds than ever before within an NVMe PCIe drive to create new possibilities for consumers and business professionals,” Kim added.

The 960 EVO is available in 250GB, 500GB and 1TB capacities³ and provide users with next-generation personal computing performance. The new Samsung Intelligent TurboWrite technology makes its debut in the 960 EVO and accelerates sequential read and write speeds, that reach peaks of 3,200 MB/s and 1,900 MB/s respectively.^4,5   The 960 EVO’s random read speed reaches up to 380,000 IOPS and random write speed up to 360,000 IOPS.⁶ The 960 EVO comes with a three-year limited warranty and up to 400 terabytes written (TBW), whichever occurs first, for the 1TB capacity version.

In addition to the industry leading performance, capacity and the reliable warranty-backed experience the 960 SSDs offer, Samsung is also introducing the all-new and fully rebuilt Magician software with a new user interface with which users can control various SSD settings including firmware updates.

The 960 PRO and 960 EVO SSDs will be available worldwide starting October 2016, with manufacturer’s suggested retail prices starting at $329.99 and $129.99 USD respectively. For more information, including warranty details⁷, please visit www.samsungssd.com.

^1,4,6 Sequential performance measurements based on CrystalDiskMark 5.0.2/IOmeter 1.1.0 and random performance measurements based on IOmeter 1.1.0.Performance may vary based on the SSD`s firmware version, system hardware and configuration. Test system configuration: Intel® Core i7-6700K CPU@4.0 GHz,DDR4 1700MHz 16GB,OS-Window 10 Pro x64,Chipset-ASROCK Z170 EXTREME 7.

^2,3 1GB=1,000,000,000 bytes by IDEMA. A certain portion of capacity may be used for system file and maintenance use, so the actual capacity may differ from what is indicated on the product label.

⁵ Sequential Write performance measurements are based on Intelligent TurboWrite technology. The sequential write performances after Intelligent TurboWrite region are 300 MB/s(250GB),600 MB/s(500GB) and 1200 MB/s(1TB).

⁷ Samsung’s warranty does not cover any costs and expenses relating to SSDs’ overhaul/assembly and data recovery for repairs or replacements.

At Flash Memory Summit 2016*, held in the Santa Clara (CA) Convention Center, Samsung showcased its 4^th generation Vertical NAND (V-NAND) and a line-up of high-performance, high-capacity solid state drives (SSDs) available for its enterprise customers as well as Z-SSD, a new solution providing breakthrough performance for flash-based storage.

Samsung’s new flash storage devices are expected to contribute significantly to the global IT industry in meeting the growing storage requirements of today’s enterprise computing environment. These solutions will accommodate enormous amounts of data, and extremely high-speed information processing, while enhancing the total cost of ownership (TCO) for data centers.

“With our 4^th generation V-NAND technology, we can provide leading-edge differentiated values in high capacity, high performance and compact product dimensions, which together will contribute to our customers achieving better TCO results,” said Young-Hyun Jun, President of the Memory Business at Samsung Electronics. “We will continue to introduce more advanced V-NAND solutions and expand our flash business initiatives in maximizing an unbeatable combination of performance and value.”

Samsung’s 4^th Generation V-NAND Stacks 30 Percent More Layers of Cell-Arrays than its Predecessor

Samsung introduced its 4th generation, 64-layer triple-level-cell V-NAND flash memory that pushes the envelope of NAND scaling, performance and storage capacity. Stacking 64 layers of cell-arrays, the new V-NAND can increase its single-die density to an industry-leading 512Gb and its IO speed to 800Mbps, which further distinguishes Samsung’s technology leadership in three-dimensional NAND cell structure design and production. Starting in August 2013, Samsung has previously introduced three generations of “industry-first” V-NAND products with 24, 32 and 48-layer vertical cell-array stacking technologies.

Samsung plans to provide the world’s first 4^th generation V-NAND flash memory products in the fourth quarter of this year, which will help manufacturers to produce faster, more stylish and portable computing devices, while offering consumers a more responsive computing environment.

World Largest Capacity Drive − 32TB SAS SSD − for Enterprise Storage Systems

Samsung’s latest Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) SSD is the world largest single drive ever introduced to the industry based on 512-gigabit (Gb) V-NAND chips. A total of 512 V-NAND chips are stacked in 16 layers to form a 1-terabyte (TB) package and the 32-terabyte (TB) SSD contains 32 of those packages.

By adopting a new 4^th generation V-NAND design, the 32TB SAS SSD can reduce system space requirements up to 40 times compared with the same type of system using two racks of hard disk drives (HDDs). The 32TB SAS SSD will come in a 2-5-inch form factor and be produced in 2017. Samsung also expects that SSDs with more than 100TB of storage capacity will be available by 2020, thanks to continued refinement of V-NAND technology.

1TB Memory in a Single BGA Package

The Samsung 1TB BGA SSD features an extremely compact, ball grid array (BGA) package design that contains all essential SSD components including triple-level-cell V-NAND flash chips, LPDDR4 mobile DRAM and a state-of-the-art Samsung controller.

It will deliver unprecedented performance, reading sequentially at 1,500MB/s and writing sequentially at 900MB/s. By reducing its size up to 50 percent compared to its predecessor, the SSD weighs only about one gram (less than half the weight of a U.S. dime), making it ideal for ultra-compact next generation notebooks, tablets and convertibles.

Next year, Samsung plans to launch its 1TB BGA SSD by adopting a high-density packaging technology called “FO-PLP (Fan-out Panel Level Packaging)” which Samsung Electronics developed with Samsung Electro-Mechanics.

New ‘Z- SSD’ Breaks through Performance Limits of Current NAND Flash Memory Storage

Samsung has also developed a high performance, ultra-low latency SSD solution, the Z-SSD. Samsung’s Z-SSD shares the fundamental structure of V-NAND and has a unique circuit design and controller that can maximize performance, with four times faster latency and 1.6 times better sequential reading than the Samsung PM963 NVMe** SSD.

The Z-SSD will be used in systems that deal with extremely intensive real-time analysis as well as extending high performance to all types of workloads. It is expected to be released next year.

* Flash Memory Summit (FMS), produced by Conference ConCepts, showcases the mainstream applications, key technologies, and leading vendors that are driving the multi-billion dollar non-volatile memory and SSD markets. FMS is now the world’s largest event featuring the trends, innovations, and influencers driving the adoption of flash memory in demanding enterprise storage applications, as well as in smartphones, tablets, and mobile and embedded systems. For more information, please visit at www.flashmemorysummit.com/

** Often shortened as NVMe, NVM Express (Non-Volatile Memory Express) is an optimized, high performance, scalable host controller interface with a streamlined register interface and command set designed for enterprise and client systems that use PCIe SSDs. For more information, please visit www.nvmexpress.org

Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, announced today that it has begun mass producing the industry’s first NVMe* PCIe solid state drive (SSD) in a single ball grid array (BGA) package, for use in next-generation PCs and ultra-slim notebook PCs. The new BGA NVMe SSD, named PM971-NVMe, features an extremely compact package that contains all essential SSD components including NAND flash memory, DRAM and controller while delivering outstanding performance.

“Samsung’s new BGA NVMe SSD triples the performance of a typical SATA SSD, in the smallest form factor available, with storage capacity reaching up to 512GB,” said Jung-bae Lee, senior vice president, Memory Product Planning & Application Engineering Team, Samsung Electronics. “The introduction of this small-scale SSD will help global PC companies to make timely launches of slimmer, more stylish computing devices, while offering consumers a more satisfactory computing environment.”

Configuring the PM971-NVMe SSD in a single BGA package was enabled by combining 16 of Samsung’s 48-layer 256-gigabit (Gb) V-NAND flash chips, one 20-nanometer 4Gb LPDDR4 mobile DRAM chip and a high-performance Samsung controller. The new SSD is 20mm x 16mm x 1.5mm and weighs only about one gram (an American dime by comparison weighs 2.3 grams). The single-package SSD’s volume is approximately a hundredth of a 2.5” SSD or HDD, and its surface area is about a fifth of an M.2 SSD, allowing much more design flexibility for computing device manufacturers.

In addition, the PM971-NVMe SSD delivers a level of performance that easily surpasses the speed limit of a SATA 6Gb/s interface. It enables sequential read and write speeds of up to 1,500MB/s (megabytes per second) and 900MB/s respectively, when TurboWrite** technology is used. The performance figures can be directly compared to transferring a 5GB-equivalent, Full-HD movie in about 3 seconds or downloading it in about 6 seconds. It also boasts random read and write IOPS (input output operations per second) of up to 190K and 150K respectively, to easily handle high-speed operations. A hard drive, by contrast, will only process up to 120 IOPS in random reads, making the new Samsung SSD more than 1500 times faster than an HDD in this regard.

The PM971-NVMe SSD line-up will be available in 512GB, 256GB and 128GB storage options. Samsung will start providing the new SSDs to its customers this month worldwide.

As a leading SSD provider, Samsung has a history of introducing advanced SSDs ahead of the industry. In June 2013, Samsung introduced XP941 SSD in M.2 (mini PCI-Express 2.0) form factor (80mm x 22mm), which was also the industry’s first PCIe SSD for PCs. Now, Samsung plans to rapidly expand its market base in the next-generation premium notebook PC sector with the new high-performance, BGA package, NVMe SSD. Later this year, Samsung plans to introduce more high-capacity and ultra-fast NVMe SSDs to meet increasing customer needs for improved performance and greater density.

* Often shortened as NVMe, NVM Express (Non-Volatile Memory Express) is an optimized, high performance, scalable host controller interface with a streamlined register interface and command set designed for enterprise, datacenter and client systems that use non-volatile memory storage. For more information, please visit www.nvmexpress.org

** TurboWrite is a Samsung proprietary technology that temporarily uses certain portions of an SSD as a write buffer. TurboWrite delivers better PC experiences as users can enjoy much faster sequential write speeds.

The industry’s solution to the dilemma was to adopt three dimensional concepts to semiconductor structures at several different stages of the engineering process, hence ‘3D semiconductor technologies.’

Here are some of the key ‘3D technologies’ that Samsung has introduced to the semiconductor industry, and how they tackled important technical challenges in meeting the market requirements.

14-nanometer FinFET

While conventional 2D transistors started to show several problems, including current leakage (a.k.a. short channel effect) that comes with finer technologies, the 14-nanometer (nm) FinFET technology raises a ‘fin’ that wraps over the conducting channel. This allows better control of the current in finer circuit designs. The new structure significantly decreases data leakage while demonstrating greater power advantages.

Samsung made this cutting-edge technology available at the end of 2014 which has enhanced hardware design and performance in today’s premium mobile devices.

Vertical NAND (V-NAND)

Advanced NAND flash technology at smaller design nodes started to experience issues with performance and durability, including data crosstalk.

In 2013, Samsung reached a breakthrough by mass producing V-NAND memory, which vertically stacks the cells with 3D Charge Trap Flash structures, which drastically increases density with less energy consumption and enhanced endurance. Samsung is currently mass producing its third-generation V-NAND lineup.

TSV (Through Silicon Via)

Instead of the traditional method of connecting the stacked dies externally with gold wire, we are now able to pierce hundreds of fine holes through the dies and then vertically connect them through the holes, allowing faster data processing with less power consumed. This technology is called 3D Through Silicon Via, or TSV.

Early this year, Samsung started mass producing the industry’s fastest DRAM package (4GB) based on the High Bandwidth Memory 2 (HBM2) interface. The state-of-the-art technology allows next-generation High Performance Computing systems and graphics cards brought to life.

Samsung Electronics, an expert provider of advanced memory solutions, today unveiled its newest memory card globally – the EVO Plus 256GB microSD card. The EVO Plus 256GB offers the highest capacity for a microSD card in its class, delivering fast speeds and an expanded memory storage for use in premium smartphones and tablets, 360-degree video recorders, action cameras, and drones. Consumers can now record up to 12 hours of 4K UHD video or 33 hours of Full HD video on their mobile device or action camera without needing to change or replace the memory card, allowing them to experience more and worry less about running out of memory.

The EVO Plus 256GB raises the bar for capacity and performance of microSD cards thanks to Samsung’s advanced V-NAND technology, offering high read and write speeds of up to 95MB/s and 90MB/s, respectively. This level of performance will provide general consumers and professionals with superb user convenience for storing heavy-loaded, high-resolution photography and 4K video recording, as well as graphic intensive multimedia like virtual reality (VR) and gaming.

“With the upward trend of consumers using high-performance, high-capacity mobile devices, our new, V-NAND-based 256GB microSD card solution allows us to deliver the memory card consumers have been craving,” said Un-Soo Kim, Senior Vice President of Brand Product Marketing, Memory Business at Samsung Electronics. “Our EVO Plus 256GB microSD card, will provide consumers with large capacity, and high read and write speeds. We are excited to offer our customers convenient and seamless multimedia experiences when they access, store and share all of the content they create and capture.”

The EVO Plus 256GB microSD card provides advanced protection, capacity, and performance with long-term reliability needed to get the most out of today’s electronics, making it an ideal companion for high-end smartphones and tablets with a microSD slot, even in the most extreme conditions.

Samsung will offer the EVO Plus 256GB microSD card with a limited 10-year warranty in more than 50 countries, including the USA, Europe, China, and other regions starting in June 2016 for $249.99 (Manufacturer’s suggested retail price).

Key Features and Specifications

¹ The above results are from internal tests with the average-actual data store capacity (93.1% of the labeled capacity). The results may vary based on testing conditions and host devices.

• 4032×3024 12MP
• 3840×2160 (30 fps) 4K UHD
• 1920×1080 Full HD (30fps)
• 1280×720 HD
• Average file size : 10.7MB

The storage capacity stated in the product specifications may be lower than the capacity reported by users’ device due to difference in measurement standards.

² Operating temperatures of -25°C to 85°C (-13°F to 185°F), non-operating temperatures of -40°C to 85°C (-40°F to 185°F). Withstands standard airport x-ray machines and the magnetic field equivalent of a high-field MRI scanner.

Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, announced that it is now mass producing the industry’s first 256-gigabyte (GB) embedded memory based on the Universal Flash Storage (UFS) 2.0 standard, for next-generation high-end mobile devices. The newly introduced embedded memory features outstanding performance for mobile devices that exceeds that of a typical SATA-based SSD for PCs.

“By providing high-density UFS memory that is nearly twice as fast as a SATA SSD for PCs, we will contribute to a paradigm shift within the mobile data storage market,” said Joo Sun Choi, Executive Vice President, Memory Sales and Marketing, Samsung Electronics. “We are determined to push the competitive edge in premium storage line-ups – OEM NVMe SSDs, external SSDs, and UFS – by moving aggressively to enhance performance and capacity in all three markets.”

The new Samsung UFS memory satisfies needs for ultra-fast speed, large data capacity and compact chip size in high-end smartphones. It is based on the company’s most advanced V-NAND flash memory chips and a specially-designed high-performance controller. The UFS memory handles up to 45,000 and 40,000 input/output operations per second (IOPS) for random reading and writing respectively, over two times faster than the 19,000 and 14,000 IOPS of the previous generation of UFS memory.

For sequential reading, the 256GB UFS takes advantage of two lanes of data transfer to move data at up to 850MB/s, which is nearly twice as fast as a typical SATA-based SSD used in PCs. In terms of sequential writing, it supports up to 260MB/s, which is approximately three times faster than high-performance external micro SD cards.

As a result, the new 256GB UFS memory is capable of supporting seamless Ultra HD video playback and multitasking functionality on large-screen mobile devices, such as watching 4K Ultra HD movies on a split screen, while searching image files or downloading video clips. Its 256GB capacity also allows an unmatched amount of data storage on the mobile device itself. For example, one 256GB UFS chip can store about 47 full HD movies, therefore enabling much greater flexibility in handheld consumer electronics.

In addition, with the advent of next-generation smartphones that support the USB 3.0 interface, users will be able to transfer data much faster between mobile devices. The USB 3.0 interface will allow sending a 5GB-equivalent Full-HD video clip (average 90-min. movie size) in 12 seconds. Within this new storage environment, mobile users will get to take full advantage of the performance benefits of Samsung’s latest UFS memory.

Using Samsung’s advanced memory technology, the new UFS memory chips are extremely compact, even smaller than an external micro SD card, giving greater flexibility to smartphone designers.

Samsung announced availability of its 128GB UFS memory in February of last year. In only a year, it has doubled the capacity and speed of UFS memory, which should spur further growth of the mobile marketplace. Samsung will extend its premium storage line-ups that are based on its advanced V-NAND flash memory including the new 256GB UFS, and increase their production volume in line with increases in global demand.

Samsung Electronics announced the Samsung Portable SSD T3, a premium, palm-sized, external solid state drive (SSD) that offers multi-terabyte (TB) storage capacity. Equipped with Samsung’s proprietary Vertical NAND (V-NAND) and SSD TurboWrite technology, the T3 drive provides advanced performance, enabling consumers, content creators, business and IT professionals, to quickly and easily store and transfer large multimedia content across a variety of devices.

“Following the successful worldwide launch of the Portable SSD T1 in 2015, we made several significant upgrades to the T3 based on the feedback and needs of our customers, which included content creators and business professionals in particular,” said Un-Soo Kim, Senior Vice President of Brand Product Marketing, Memory Business at Samsung Electronics. “As such, the T3 delivers the outstanding performance, storage capacity and durability needed from an external storage device for today’s mobile lifestyle, without compromising on style or security. It’s the new portable external storage drive users can depend on in any situation or environment.”

Representing a major step forward for external, mobile storage, SSDs offer a truly dependable and versatile solution. Samsung is leading the market by offering a new 2TB T3 SSD, along with a wide range of capacity options including 250 gigabyte (GB), 500GB, and 1TB. Recently chosen as an honoree for the 2016 CES Innovation Awards, in the Wireless Handset Accessories category, the new T3 drive will be on display at Samsung Electronics’ booth (#11906) during CES 2016. The booth will be in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, from January 6 to 9.

External Storage with a New Level of Performance

With the rise of rich 4K content, consumers are increasingly relying on external storage solutions, while seeking faster data transfer speeds and large capacity on multiple devices. The T3 solves these concerns by enabling blazing-fast file transfers based on sequential read and write speeds of up to 450MB/s with a USB 3.1 interface, which is up to four times faster than alternative external HDD solutions*.

Mobility and Durability Suited for an On-the-Go Lifestyle

Designed specifically for today’s mobile lifestyle, the Portable SSD T3 is compact, lightweight and durable. The drive is smaller than an average business card and weighs a mere 50 grams approximately (less than two ounces), allowing users to easily carry large amounts of data with them anywhere.

Unlike an external HDD, the SSDs do not have moving parts and so the T3 is inherently better protected from damage or data loss due to bumps or drops. Featuring a new shock-resistant metal case and internal frame, the T3 can withstand up to 1500G of force and will survive a drop of up to two meters. The drive’s integrated Thermal Guard prevents overheating in extreme temperatures, and the T3 comes with a three-year limited warranty.

Increased Compatibility and Data Security

Featuring an adopted USB 3.1 Type C connection, the T3 is compatible with a wide range of USB supported devices, including the latest Android smartphones and tablets, and computers with Windows or Mac OS. Users can send data from the T3 to a PC and vice versa, access content on the T3 through mobile devices, and view the drive’s multimedia content on large-screen devices such as TVs. The T3 uses exFAT, a widely adopted file system, as its default file recognition format to create a seamless user experience. The T3 also works with a brand-new complementary Samsung Portable SSD Android mobile app which supports password changes and remaining capacity checks.

The drive has a simple set-up process for users, with one user-set password. The drive is equipped with AES 256-bit hardware encryption for the high level of security and protection across Windows, Mac and Android OS based devices. Even if the drive should fall into the wrong hands, the data stored on it would be inaccessible.

The Samsung Portable SSD T3 will be first launched in February, 2016 in countries including the United States, China, Korea and select European countries and will subsequently become available worldwide.

For more information, please visit www.samsung.com/T3.

Key Specifications

* Based on internal testing using a 500GB external HDD.
** Actual usable capacity may vary based on system settings. 1GB=1,000,000,000 bytes, 1TB=1,000,000,000,000 bytes.
*** The exact weight of the product may vary depending on each capacity model.
**** Performance may vary depending on host configuration and user system environment.

For more information about CES 2016, please visit our exclusive page #SAMSUNGxCES2016

Samsung Electronics, a global leader and award-winning innovator in consumer electronics, semiconductors and telecommunications, today announced that it won 38 prestigious International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2016 Innovation Awards. The Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the producer of CES 2016 – the global gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies, who has been recognizing achievements in product design and engineering since 1976, has honored Samsung with one more Best of Innovation Award this year than last year.

Among Samsung’s 38 CES 2016 Innovation Awards are three Best of Innovation Awards. Products entered in the CES Innovation program are judged by a pre-eminent panel of independent industrial designers, engineers and members of the trade media to honor outstanding design and engineering in cutting-edge consumer electronics products across 27 categories.

“Samsung continues to deliver unique experiences for our consumers worldwide through the many products that help people lead more connected lives,” said Gregory Lee, president and CEO of Samsung Electronics North America. “We are honored that CTA and the industry recognizes our ongoing commitment to innovation and excellence in consumer experience as we look forward to demonstrating our latest achievements at the 2016 International Consumer Electronics Show.”

Samsung’s award-winning products span 18 categories including, TV, Monitor, Mobile, Tablet, Digital Imaging, Wearable, Home Appliance and Memory. Many of Samsung’s award-winning products will be on display at CES 2016, which runs January 6-9, 2016, in Samsung booth #11906 in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Some of the winning products will be showcased at Samsung’s CES press conference, scheduled for 2 p.m. on Tuesday January 5, 2016.

Following are details on some of Samsung’s award-winning products:

Samsung Gear S2 – A completely re-designed smartwatch that centers on an intuitive circular design with a rotating bezel that allows users to easily and precisely navigate the UI with the turn of a dial. The Gear S2 provides at-a-glance notifications to check calendars, e-mails, send texts and more.

Galaxy S6 edge+ – With an immersive, 5.7-inch dual-edge display, the Galaxy S6 edge+ breaks conventional smartphone design and delivers industry leading features, including Samsung’s most advanced camera for high quality photos and videos, fast wireless and wired charging, powerful processor and Samsung Pay.

Samsung Galaxy View – Re-imagining mobile entertainment, the Galaxy View provides a movable, touchable, immersive TV experience. With a unique, video-centric user interface, the Galaxy View makes it easy to access and enjoy streaming content, interactive video games, books and other digital content.

Samsung Gear VR – Powered by Oculus, the Gear VR is compatible the Samsung Galaxy Note5, Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge, leveraging each device’s Quad HD Super AMOLED display to provide the color, clarity and performance needed for an amazing virtual reality experience.

ATIV Book 9 Pro – Offering a stunning 4K display, cutting-edge performance from its Intel Core i7® processor, and magnificent quad speakers, this laptop is ideal for professionals and multimedia enthusiasts alike.

Samsung 950 PRO 512GB – This solid state drive (SSD), the first Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) M.2 form factor SSD with vertical NAND (V-NAND) technology, is designed to meet the demands of high-performance consumer and business PCs and laptops. Ideal for projects such as computer-aided design, data analysis and engineering simulation, the 950 PRO provides users with cutting-edge performance, higher bandwidth and lower latency from their workstations, even under intensive workloads.

Samsung 850 PRO 2TB – As the world’s first 2 terabyte consumer SSD, the Samsung 850 PRO 2TB is a high-performance, high-density storage device that delivers rapid data access times and program load times, as well as industry-leading power efficiency. With V-NAND technology at its core, the 850 PRO 2TB yields excellent reliability and superior performance throughout its lifetime.

Samsung SleepSense Sleep Monitor – The Bluetooth and IoT-enabled Samsung SleepSense device uses a complex set of sensors in a smart, innovative, and simple way to track and provide information on your sleep habits and deliver personalized expert tips directly to consumers’ smartphones to help you take control of the most important aspects of health and wellness: how well we sleep.

Samsung 128GB UFS – As the first mobile memory based on the much-anticipated Universal Flash Storage (UFS) 2.0 standard, this ultra-fast package is the highest capacity, highest performing, thinnest and smallest embedded storage memory for mobile devices. It allows for quick access to pictures from 20MP+ cameras and to 4K video files, as well as embracing 5G connectivity and delivering shorter application loading and response times.

Samsung 12Gb LPDDR4 – The world’s highest density mobile DRAM chip allows for packages of up to 6GB, delivering 34.1GB/s bandwidth – three times as fast as the industry’s previous highest performing mobile DRAM. The chip can accommodate the real-time multitasking scenarios of today’s flagship smartphones and tablets having UHD displays, while providing 50% greater power efficiency and the optimal density for new high-end 64bit-system smartphones.

Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, announced that it is adding three TCO-optimized, high-performance SSDs, based on 3-dimensional (3D) Vertical NAND (V-NAND) technology, to its industry-leading portfolio of advanced enterprise and data center SSDs in the US. The drives are available now.

“We are providing high-end capabilities and capacities for all of our latest SSDs, something we believe will elicit a high degree of interest from OEMs and computer enthusiasts throughout the world,” said Jim Elliott, Corporate Vice President, Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. “We understand the performance needs of our customers in a rapidly expanding SSD universe and are determined to meet those needs.”

Designed for OEMs, Samsung’s new SSDs – the PM1633, PM1725 and PM953 all utilize Samsung’s 3-bit MLC (multi-level-cell) V-NAND flash memory, while providing outstanding performance and reliability, as well as high capacities.

PM1633: a 2.5” 12Gb/s SAS SSD designed for enterprise storage

Samsung’s latest SAS SSD, the PM1633, is designed to meet all requirements of Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) interface based systems. The 2.5” 12 gigabit-per-second (Gb/s) SAS SSD will be offered in 480GB, 960GB, 1.92 terabyte (TB) and 3.84TB versions.

The PM1633 delivers random read and write speeds of up to 160,000 and 18,000 IOPS respectively, and boasts sequential read and write speeds of up to 1,100MB/s and 1,000MB/s.

PM1725: can randomly read 1 million IOPS with a 6.4TB HHHL-card NVMe PCIe* SSD design

Targeting the next-generation enterprise storage market, Samsung is introducing a half-height, half-length (HHHL) card-type NVMe SSD, the PM1725, offering blazingly fast data transmission and a 3.2TB or 6.4TB storage capacity.

The PM1725 provides a random read speed of up to 1,000,000 IOPS (input output operations per second) and writes randomly at up to 120,000 IOPS. It also sequentially reads at up to 5,500 megabytes per second (MB/s) and writes sequentially at up to 1,800MB/s, which enables users to save a 5GB video in less than three seconds.

In addition, the 6.4TB PM1725 features outstanding reliability with five DWPDs (drive writes per day) for five years, which translates to writing a total of 32TBs per day during that time. This means users can write 6,400 files of 5GB-equivalent data or video every day, which represents a level of reliability quite sufficient for enterprise storage systems that have to perform ultrafast transmission of large amount of data.

PM953: an advanced NVMe SSD in M.2 and 2.5” form factors offering up to 1.92TB storage

Samsung is introducing an update to the industry’s first NVMe SSD (SM951) in an M.2 form factor that was announced earlier this year.

The new PM953 comes in NVMe interface and is available in both M.2 and 2.5” form factors to satisfy a variety of next-generation system requirements such as large-scale data centers and mobile workstations as well as ultra-slim notebook PCs and high-end desktops. The M.2 version will be offered with either 480 or 960 gigabytes (GBs), while the 2.5” version will be out in 480GB, 960GB and 1.92TB capacities.

Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, announced that it has begun mass producing the industry’s first 256-gigabit (Gb), three-dimensional (3D) Vertical NAND (V-NAND) flash memory based on 48 layers of 3-bit multi-level-cell (MLC) arrays for use in solid state drives (SSDs).

“With the introduction of our 3rd generation V-NAND flash memory to the global market, we can now provide the best advanced memory solutions, with even higher efficiency based on improved performance, power utilization and manufacturing productivity, thereby accelerating growth of the high-performance and the high-density SSD markets,” said Young-Hyun Jun, President of the Memory Business at Samsung Electronics. “By making full use of Samsung V-NAND’s excellent features, we will expand our premium-level business in the enterprise and data center market segments, as well as in the consumer market, while continuing to strengthen our strategic SSD focus.”

Samsung’s new 256Gb 3D V-NAND flash doubles the density of conventional 128Gb NAND flash chips. In addition to enabling 32 gigabytes (256 gigabits) of memory storage on a single die, the new chip will also easily double the capacity of Samsung’s existing SSD line-ups, and provide an ideal solution for multi-terabyte SSDs.

Samsung introduced its 2nd generation V-NAND (32-layer 3-bit MLC V-NAND) chips in August 2014, and launched its 3rd generation V-NAND (48-layer 3-bit MLC V-NAND) chips in just one year, in continuing to lead the 3D memory era.

In the new V-NAND chip, each cell utilizes the same 3D Charge Trap Flash (CTF) structure in which the cell arrays are stacked vertically to form a 48-storied mass that is electrically connected through some 1.8 billion channel holes punching through the arrays thanks to a special etching technology. In total, each chip contains over 85.3 billion cells. They each can store 3 bits of data, resulting 256 billion bits of data, in other words, 256Gb on a chip no larger than the tip of a finger.

A 48-layer 3-bit MLC 256Gb V-NAND flash chip consumes over a 30 percent reduction in power compared to a 32-layer, 3-bit MLC, 128Gb V-NAND chip when storing the same amount of data. During production, the new chip also achieves approximately 40 percent more productivity over its 32-layer predecessor, bringing much enhanced cost competitiveness to the SSD market, while mainly utilizing existing equipment.

Samsung plans to produce 3rd generation V-NAND throughout the remainder of 2015, to enable more accelerated adoption of terabyte-level SSDs. While now introducing SSDs with densities of two terabytes and above for consumers, Samsung also plans to increase its high-density SSD sales for the enterprise and data center storage markets with leading-edge PCIe NVMe and SAS interfaces.

Samsung’s Semiconductor Series Part 2

Read Part 1 

Semiconductors have been in a race to drive up both product performance and process manufacturing efficiency. Enter the mobile era, the market clamored for smaller and more powerful devices that would make the most out of their battery life. As the inside of such devices became prime real estate, components had to follow suit.

The convention was to shorten the distance between the circuitry. That means faster data transfers that require less energy, has more compact configurations and yet has the same capacity became possible. Fabrication productivity also got a boost as technology generations progressed.

While market needs catalyzed innovation and aggressive scaling in semiconductors, bringing digital experiences into the palms of our hands, chip fabrication methods quickly ran into a whole bunch of walls—or the lack of them. With details shrinking down to the billionth of a meter, it came to a point where traditional materials wouldn’t work anymore, electric charges started leaking and signals were getting crosstalk. In other words, scaling down the technology any further would gravely compromise the information being stored or waste the energy being consumed.

Our engineers couldn’t really defy the laws of physics. But they were able to bring about new designs and fabrication expertise in semiconductor technology that opened up meaningful opportunities for the industry.

14nm FinFET AP (application processor) – A warm and gooey marshmallow between two graham crackers is good enough as it is but if you make your s’more ‘denser,’ the crackers are brought closer together and the marshmallow gets squished up. That’s kind of what happened with the channel structures of transistors for FinFET. And no, the channel did not ooze out.

In February, we came out with the industry’s first mobile application processor (AP) based on advanced 14nm FinFET technology. By raising a ‘fin’ over the conducting channel and wrapping it over with the gate, the new structure addresses the problems of current leakage, or short-channel effect, that comes with finer technologies, while demonstrating greater power advantages and performance levels over our previous 20nm process technology. With our 14nm FinFET AP out in the hands of consumers, we’re staying busy prepping for 10nm FinFETs and beyond.

Read more: Samsung Announces Mass Production of Industry’s First 14nm FinFET Mobile Application Processor

20nm DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) – For decades, the semiconductor industry had followed the pattern of doubling the density of ICs (integrated circuit) every two years. But delivering new technology refined enough for mass production got painstakingly harder. Due to limitations especially in the current technology of drawing crazy-thin lines, namely the lithography process, the 25nm design rule is where the industry thought to be the limit for DRAMs. It had been so for nearly two years. We were stuck.

Then, in 2014, came a breakthrough. Bleeding-edge methods such as modified double patterning and atomic layer deposition were introduced, heralding the arrival of the industry’s first 20nm DRAM. Contrary to common belief, we were able to utilize existing lithography tools, keeping costs viable as well. Not only was this a major breakthrough, but it also paves the way for sub-20nm nodes. We are currently the only manufacturer with this technology and are offering a full DRAM lineup for PC and enterprise systems as well as mobile device customers.

Read more: Samsung Electronics Starts Mass Production of Industry’s First 8-Gigabit Mobile DRAM

3D V-NAND (NAND flash memory) – Let’s say you have a single-story dormitory that you sectioned off for a number of occupants. You needed to accommodate more people, so rooms got smaller and the walls thinner. But tiny dorm rooms with thin walls are no fun at all. So what do you do? You build a skyscraper instead and give each of your tenants the entire floor, of course. All of a sudden, you don’t have to be fighting for space anymore and even better, everybody’s happy and much more productive. Voilà, 3D V-NAND flash memory.

Samsung is the first and still is the only company providing V-NAND products, which feature vertically stacked NAND flash cells. The technology marks a major milestone in memory technology as it overcomes the scaling limitations for conventional 2D planar structures, as well as drastically mitigating development time and resources. Even the first generation V-NAND demonstrated at least twice and up to ten times the reliability while also doubling its write performance. And don’t worry; a few dozen additional cell layers won’t affect the thickness of the final chip at all. Our second generation V-NAND products have also been very well received in the market, especially for applications in today’s SSDs that are equipped for the most demanding tasks.

Read more: Now I know my three-bit three-dee vee-nand ess-ess-dee [Editorial]

ISOCELL (CMOS image sensors) – Between pixel size and image quality, there always was a delicate balance to maintain. A good image sensor will capture as much light, or photons, as possible, as accurately as possible through individual pixels within the sensor array. Theoretically, more pixels and larger sensor size would guarantee better picture qualities. However, we’re living in a mobile world. Since smaller pixel sizes come at the expense of the amount of light received, increasing the light sensitivity of each pixel has been the focus of image sensor development so far. Another problem with size; as pixels got packed closer together, photons that had been absorbed would wander into adjacent cells, making pictures blurry or diminishing color fidelity.

Introduced in 2014, our proprietary solution, ISOCELL, was to form a physical barrier between neighboring pixels so that more light is absorbed into the pixels correctly. This results in sharper and richer picture quality. The walls also create a wider chief ray angle (CRA) that reduces the height of the module. In other words, the pixels can afford to be less deep since they can capture those little photons hitting the pixel at a wider angle that would otherwise wander off to the pixel next door. All of these qualities make ISOCELL image sensors ideal for today’s compact devices.

Read more: Get the Big Picture: CMOS Image Sensors and ISOCELL