Samsung unveils 512-Mb DRAM

By Staff -- Purchasing, 5/18/2000

Samsung Electronics has used 0.12 process technology to develop a 512-Mb dram. The new device can be assembled in the same plastic package as the 256-Mb dram so memory upgrades can be easily achieved, according to Samsung.

The 512-Mb dram uses a chip design that can support either the synchronous mode of the current PC-100 and PC-133, or the next-generation DDR (double data rate) memory specifications. This design will enable better production-line flexibility, quickening Samsung's response time to market demands.

The 0.12-micron design rule can also be applied to existing 128-Mb and 256-Mb dram.

The high-end memory market is forecast to consist of DDR devices for server PCs and Rambus dram devices for workstations. The general PC market will center on three main products: sdr dram, ddr sdram and Rambus dram. Samsung will support all three.

Samsung expects to ship 512Mb dram to large manufacturers of servers in 2001. The 512-Mb dram market is expected to be $20 million in 2001, but will grow to $41 billion by 2004.