Samsung has already pressing ahead with its own high-density 20nm LPDDR3 modules, but SK Hynix reckons it can go one better. Instead of the stingy, piffling, retro 2GB stack offered by Sammy (pah!), the Korean memory specialist says it's sampling 20nm 8Gb (1GB) chips that can be stacked to provide 4GB of RAM in high-end mobile devices. This memory will come with all the trimmings and trappings of high-density LPDDR3, including a data transmission speed of 2,133Mbps (vs. 1,600Mbps offered by existing LPDDR3 phones like the GS4), a thinner profile and less power consumption in standby mode compared to LPDDR2. That just leaves the question of "when?," to which SK Hynix confusingly answers that we'll see products "noticeably loaded" with more than 2GB of LPDDR3 during the second half of this year, although it doesn't intend to start mass production of this exact chip until the end of the year. Of course, there'll come a point in 2014 when even mid-range processors like ARM's Cortex-A12 will theoretically be able to address more than 4GB, so that amount of RAM may not even seem so outlandish.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile
There's finally resolution to a case that dates back almost three years, in which chip subcontractor Applied Materials was accused of stealing semiconductor secrets from Samsung and supplying them to its arch chip rival SK Hynix. According to Korean media outlets YTN and Yonhap, one Samsung employee along with two SK Hynix workers and one of its subcontractors received suspended prison sentences of up to a year with two years of probation. Eighteen defendants from Samsung, SK Hynix and Applied Materials were originally charged, but no high-level management employees were reported to be involved. Applied Materials and Samsung arrived at a civil settlement late in 2010, so this seems to put a wrap on the entire sordid affair.