SK hynix pushes next generation mobile chips

SK hynix, a world-leading semiconductor firm, said Monday it had successfully commercialized its latest 8-gigabit mobile memory chip based on 20-nanometer class technology for the first time ever, posing a challenge to its local rival Samsung Electronics.

The low power double data rate 4 (LPDDR4) mobile dynamic random access memory, which boasts an input-output data rate of more than 3,200 Mbps, is twice as fast as the LPDDR3. The latest mobile DRAM is also 30 percent more energy-efficient than its predecessor.

The latest memory chip is around 10 times faster than the first generation of the LPDDR released in 2006, according to the company, headquartered in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province.

SK hynix’s LPDDR4 is said to have been installed in LG Electronics’ curved-screen G Flex 2, which hit the shelves in South Korea in January.

“With the world’s first commercialization of the 8Gb LPDDR4, SK hynix has now taken the lead in the market for high-performance mobile DRAM,” said an official from the semiconductor business wing of SK Group, vowing to expand its customer base with various products this year.

This year most top-tier smartphone-makers will roll out smartphones sporting the 4GB DRAM, which will become a mainstream product, accounting for 36 percent of the DRAM market next year, according to IHS Technology, a global market researcher.

A 4GB DRAM is made of four 8Gb mobile memory chips.

“The first commercialization of the LPDDR4 product by SK hynx signals a heated competition ahead for the lion’s share of the memory market, which has been widely dominated by Samsung Electronics,” a market watcher said.

Global smartphone-makers are also gearing up for a technological leap by incorporating advanced memory chip technology with ultrahigh-definition displays and 64-bit mobile application processors.

Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest memory chipmaker, started mass-producing its own 20-nano class LPDDR4 last year, which will likely be featured in the upcoming Galaxy S6 and its variant, the S6 Edge, featuring a curved display on both sides.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)