Photographer: SeongJoon Cho / Bloomberg
Photographer: SeongJoon Cho / Bloomberg
Samsung Electronics Co. will launch a new generation of memory chips in late 2021, the first in seven years, which promises to double speeds and offer the largest capacity to date to keep up with the growth of data centers and artificial intelligence demands.
The world’s largest memory chip maker said it has developed 512 GB DDR5 (Double Data Rate 5) memory modules based on a High-K Metal Gate (HKMG) manufacturing process that is traditionally used in logic chips. DDR5 memory will be twice as fast as current DDR4, reducing leakage and using about 13% less energy, the company wrote in its announcement.
Samsung expects the transition to DDR5 to begin in the second half of this year. The chip industry has anticipated the adoption of the new memory standard and support for it will arrive with Upcoming scalable Xeon processors from Intel Corp., codenamed Sapphire Rapids. In addition to partnering with the two main CPU vendors, Intel and Samsung, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., sent samples of its new memory to developers of data center platforms, the company told Bloomberg News.
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What Bloomberg Intelligence says
“We will have a new generation of DRAM at the end of 2021 or 2022 for the first time in 6-7 years. Higher speed, lower power consumption and greater reliability should enable advanced high-performance computing in the next era of AI. “
– Masahiro Wakasugi, analyst
Analysts estimate that DDR5 chips will be about 20% larger than DDR4 parts, leading to increased pressure on semiconductor supply chains. Samsung plans to start shipping this year and gradually evolve both its manufacturing processes – expanding the use of extreme ultraviolet lithography – and prices, which will include a premium for the initial period. The crossover between DDR4 and DDR5 is expected to take place in the second half of 2023, the Suwon-based company said.
“As the DDR5 penetration rate gradually increases, the DRAM shortage is likely to persist in 2022,” said Avril Wu, vice president of TrendForce Research. “We also expect a 30-40% increase in prices initially.”
Source: Bloomberg Intelligence
(Updates with Bloomberg Intelligence data and comments)