SK Hynix’s LPDDR5T chip likely mounted on MediaTek’s Dimensity

SK Hynix Inc.'s latest mobile DRAM chip LPDDR5T is expected to be mounted on MediTek Co.’s next-generation mobile application processor (AP) chipset dubbed Dimensity.

The South Korean company, the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker after Samsung Electronics Co., said on Thursday it has completed LPDDR5T’s performance verification for use in the Taiwanese company’s flagship mobile chipset.

Developed in January, LPDDR5T is the world’s fastest mobile DRAM with an operating speed of 9.6 gigabits per second (Gbps), according to SK Hynix.

The Korean DRAM maker provided samples to MediaTek, the world’s largest mobile AP manufacturer, in February for application tests on the Dimensity platform series of mobile APs.

A mobile AP is a system-on-chip (SoC) designed to run applications and functions on a mobile device. It typically contains a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU) and other components on a single chip to enable it to perform multiple tasks simultaneously.

Set to launch by the end of this year, MediTek’s next-generation mobile AP will be the first product to be applied with 9.6 Gbps memory – the industry’s fastest operating speed for mobile devices.

“We have been working closely with SK … to enable our Dimensity chipset to unleash an unprecedented level of mobile performance,” said JC Hsu, senior vice president of Wireless Communications Business at MediaTek. “Using this updated architecture, developers and users alike will be able to get more out of their devices than ever before.”

DEFYING MARKET EXPECTATIONS

The global semiconductor industry previously projected that an operating speed of 9.6 Gbps would be possible with future iterations such as the LPDDR6, slated to be released after 2026.

SK Hynix said it is expediting the timeline with its LPDDR5T.

Samples that SK Hynix sent to MediaTek were 16 gigabyte (GB) multi-chip packages, which combine multiple LPDDR5T, or lower power double data rate 5 turbo, chips into one package.

The packaged product can process 77 GB of data per second, meaning 15 full-HD quality movies can be transferred in one second.

Running in the ultra-low voltage range of 1.01V to 1.12V set by JEDEC, the international semiconductor standards council, the latest chip uses less power than previous models.

The Korean company said the latest DRAM chip is 13% faster than its previous generation LPDDR5X chip unveiled in November.

SK Hynix plans to begin mass production later this year.

With the standardization process with the JEDEC in its final stages, the company said it expects a generational change of DRAM for mobile devices to accelerate from next year.

LPDDR DRAM is becoming the standard for a variety of devices because of its low-power and high-performance characteristics, expanding its use beyond smartphones to PCs, high-end computing (HPC) and servers.

LPDDR memory is also an important component in vehicles as a massive amount of data processing is required for autonomous driving.

As the need for faster, smaller and more power-efficient memory increases across various sectors, chipmakers expect LPDDR DRAM to be widely used in artificial intelligence (AI) and metaverse businesses.

“Starting with this (MediaTek) performance verification, we will expand the scope of product supplies to strengthen our leadership in the mobile DRAM market,” said Ryu Sung-soo, head of DRAM Product Planning at SK Hynix.

Write to Ik-Hwan Kim at lovepen@hankyung.com

In-Soo Nam edited this article.