SK Hynix Announces Production of its 321-Layer NAND Flash
SK Hynix, a major South Korean semiconductor company, plans to have 321-layer NAND flash available to customers in the first half of 2025.
NAND flash is a type of non-volatile memory (retains stored information even after power is removed) storage technology commonly used in SSDs, USB drives, cell phones and other devices.
“Layer” NAND flash stacks multiple layers of memory cells vertically on a single chip. This innovative approach significantly increases storage density, performance, and power efficiency. What does entail for consumers?
By increasing the number of layers in the NAND flash, we can see higher capacity storage mediums with a smaller physical size and enhanced power efficiency. In theory, this should help increase the life span of storage mediums and help reduce storage failures.
As we have seen in flash drives using single storage chips, with capacities changing from 4GB to 8GB to 16GB and now 32GB, and greater having the same physical form factor over the years. We also continue to see improvements in other areas of solid-state storage.
SK Hynix is using the same development platform used in the previous generation 238-layer flash, yielding a purported 59% improvement in the 321-layer production yields. This means there are more likely to have memory chips that meet the standard required by manufactures. Higher yields lead to overall cheaper chips and therefore cheaper storage mediums for consumers.
This push is driving other major semiconductor companies, such as Samsung, to compete and further innovation and price reduction in the NAND flash market.
