SK hynix Inc. (SK hynix) has announced the commencement of mass production for its groundbreaking 238-layer 4D NAND Flash memory.
This comes after the technology's development in August 2022, and the company is currently conducting product compatibility tests with a major global smartphone manufacturer.
The 238-layer NAND technology has been integrated into solution products designed for smartphones and client SSDs, which are commonly used as PC storage devices. With mass production starting in May, SK hynix is confident that its new NAND technology, along with the previous generation's 176-layer NAND, will significantly enhance the company's competitive edge in terms of price, performance, and quality. As a result, SK hynix expects these products to contribute to improved earnings in the latter half of the year.
The 238-layer product – the smallest NAND in size – has a 34% higher manufacturing efficiency compared to the previous generation of 176-layer, resulting in a significant improvement in cost competitiveness.
In addition, the 238-layer NAND product provides enhanced performance features. It achieves a data transfer speed of 2.4Gb per second, representing a 50% increase compared to the previous generation. Furthermore, there is an approximate 20% improvement in read and write speeds. These advancements ensure that smartphone and PC users can enjoy improved overall performance when utilizing this cutting-edge technology.
Following the completion of the product compatibility test with the global smartphone manufacturer, SK hynix plans to supply the 238-layer NAND product for smartphones. Furthermore, the company aims to incorporate this technology into other products in its portfolio, such as PCIe 5.0 SSDs and high-capacity server SSDs, in the future.
PCIe 5.0, short for Peripheral Component Interconnect Express, is a high-speed input/output interface utilized in digital devices' main boards. PCIe 5.0 doubles the data rate to 32GT/s (Gigatransfers per second) compared to PCIe 4.0.
“We will continue to overcome NAND technology limitations and increase our competitiveness so that we can achieve a bigger turnaround than anyone else during the upcoming market rebound,” said Jumsoo Kim, Head of S238 NAND at SK hynix.
