Samsung Begins Mass Production of 12 Gb LPDDR5 Mobile DRAM

Samsung’s Faster and More Power Efficient LPDDR5 Memory Will Power Future Flagship Smartphones

Samsung revealed today that it has begun mass production of 12 Gb LPDDR5 mobile DRAM just five months after beginning production of 16 Gb LPDDR4x. The new memory is aimed at high-end smartphones, tablets, and edge devices requiring large amounts of bandwidth while remaining power efficient. Samsung claims that its LPDDR5 memory which is approximately 29% faster and 30% more power efficient will enable future mobile devices to take full advantage of 5G and AI technologies like UHD video recording and streaming.

Exact details on the geometries are kept close to the vest, but Samsung states that the new 12 Gb LPDDR5 memory is made using its second generation 10-nm class process (1y-nm) with AnandTech making some educated guesses on pitch sizes. Each 14 Gb chip is capable of 5,500 Mb/s and when assembled into a 12 GB package comprised of eight 12 Gb chips the low power mobile DRAM can hit 44 GB/s transfer rates. According to Samsung’s numbers, that puts LPDDR5 about 1.3x faster than its LPDDR4x memory used in today’s higher-end smartphones (with LPDDR4x rated at 4,266 Mb/s).

Perhaps even more notable than the performance increases are the power savings with LPDDR5 using a new circuit design that enables it to use up to 30% less power than previous memory solutions. The new design features enhanced clocking, training, and low power modes while maintaining a performance edge making it an interesting option for future battery-powered devices.

Samsung will begin production of 12 GB LPDDR5 packages using 12 Gb LPDDR5 dies later this month with 16 Gb LPDDR5 memory expected sometime next year. The company’s LPDDR5 production may be moved to its Pyeongtaek lines depending on customer demand for the new memory type.