Samsung, Qualcomm team up for car chips

Samsung Electronics, the world's No. 1 memory chipmaker, said Tuesday that it has partnered with US chip giant Qualcomm Technologies to produce advanced chips for diverse automotive solutions.

The Korean tech giant said its latest automotive LPDDR4X memory has been successfully qualified for use with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Digital Chassis. The product is set to be applied in premium in-vehicle infotainment and advanced driver-assistance systems.

Samsung’s automotive LPDDR4X qualification signifies its long-term support of customers with a variety of new products and technologies for automotive applications. This also helps ensure robust supply chain stability and enhanced support for ecosystem partners who are utilizing the Snapdragon Digital Chassis.

Having supplied automotive memory to multiple customers, Samsung sees the addition of Qualcomm, a major automotive solution provider, to its client list as a stepping stone to becoming the leading company in the automotive memory market.

According to market research firm IHS, Samsung came to No. 2 in the automotive memory market last year with a 32 percent share, while Micron topped the list with a 44 percent share.

“Through Samsung’s leadership in design, manufacturing and packaging for memory solutions, our work with Qualcomm Technologies can help support rapid development cycles while ensuring reliability, verification and exceptional product control, which are essential for the automotive industry,” said Cho Hyun-duk, vice president and head of the automotive group at Samsung Electronics’ memory business.

Samsung supplies up to 32 gigabytes of LPDDR4X memory to Qualcomm's Snapdragon Digital Chassis solution, supporting premium in-vehicle infotainment systems.

The LPDDR4X guarantees a stable performance even in extreme environments ranging from minus 40 degrees to 105 degrees Celsius.

Following the supply of automotive LPDDR4X, the world’s No. 1 memory chipmaker plans to begin mass production of its next-generation product, LPDDR5, this year. This will be supplied to Qualcomm's next-generation Snapdragon Digital Chassis.

The LPDDR5 product will be able to support the highest speed currently available in the automotive memory market at up to 9.6 gigabits per second, even in extreme temperatures, according to Samsung.

Samsung has identified the automotive market as a key sector for its future memory business and plans to strengthen its competitiveness by developing optimized products and ensuring supplying them in a timely manner.

According to market research firm Omdia, the global automotive DRAM market is expected to grow at an average annual rate of over 16 percent until 2028. The market size is projected to reach $7.36 billion by the year, more than double its size compared to 2023.