SK Hynix produces mobile DRAM with industry’s largest capacity

SK Hynix Inc., South Korea’s second-largest chipmaker, has started mass production of 18 gigabyte (GB) mobile DRAM, which offers the industry’s largest capacity.

The company said in a statement on Mar. 8 that it has begun manufacturing the product in large quantities by supplying the chips to Taiwan’s AsusTek Computer Inc., which plans to launch the gaming smartphone ROG (Republic of Gamers) 5.

The low-power double data rate (LPDDR) 5 chip is ideal for premium smartphones as it supports an optimal environment for games with high-resolution images and high-quality videos, according to the company.

SK Hynix expects applications of the product to expand to the fields of artificial intelligence and ultra-high-performance cameras.

“With increased capacity compared to the existing 16 GB DRAM, this new product will improve the processing speed and image quality by expanding the temporary data storage space,” said a company official.

The latest product runs at up to 6,400 megabits per second (Mbps) – a data rate capable of transferring ten 5 GB full-HD movies a second. That’s about 20% faster than the LPDDR 5 mobile DRAM chip used in existing smartphones.

With the product, smartphone makers will be able to manufacture mobile phones with more advanced performance than their previous models, the company said.

According to market researcher Omdia, demand for LPDDR 5 accounts for about 10% of the mobile DRAM market and its share is forecast to rise steadily every year to more than half of the market by 2023.

SK Hynix is the world’s second-largest DRAM maker as of the fourth quarter of 2020 with a market share of 29.5%, following top industry player Samsung Electronics Co., which controls 42.1% of the market, according to market tracker TrendForce.

Write to Hyung-Suk Song at click@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.