SK hynix Starts Mass Production of 24GB LPDDR5X DRAM

SK hynix Inc. has begun supplying the first 24GB Low Power Double Data Rate 5X (LPDDR5X) ⁽¹⁾ mobile DRAM package to its customers, following the mass production of LPDDR5X in November 2022.

The company, in January, developed LPDDR5T, which is an upgraded product of LPDDR5X prior to the development of the 8th-gen LPDDR6, and is currently processing customer validation.

“The company integrated the High-K Metal Gate (HKMG) ⁽²⁾ process in the 24GB LPDDR5X package, enabling the product to deliver outstanding power efficiency and performance,” said the company. “The addition of the 24GB package to our mobile DRAM product portfolio has given us a more flexibility in accommodating customers’ needs.”

The 24GB LPDDR5X package operates in the voltage range of 1.01 to 1.12V set by the JEDEC, and can process 68GB/s, which is equivalent to transferring 13 FHD (Full-HD) movies in 1s.

The company, prior to this announcement, has begun supplying its new product to smartphone manufacturer Oppo since last month. Oppo’s latest smartphone’Oneplus Ace 2 Pro, which features 24GB LPDDR5X package, was launched on August 10.

“With the timely supply of 24GB LPDDR5X from SK hynix, we were able to become the first to launch a smartphone that features the industry’s largest capacity DRAM,” said Louis Li, VP, marketing, Oppo. “This new smartphone will allow the customers to enjoy optimized multi-tasking environment as well as extended battery life.“

Due to rapid performance improvement, the roles of modern smartphone have expanded beyond the communication device and into edge device ⁽³⁾, and IT experts forecast the gadget to be essential in the AI era. In order to incorporate AI into smartphones, it is crucial to enhance the performance of semiconductor memory, which is the core component, and accordingly, the memory industry is projected to grow further.

“Along with a faster advancement in broader IT industry, our LPDDR products will be able to support a growing list of applications such as PC, server, high-performance computing (HPC) and automotive vehicles,” said Myoungsoo Park, VP, head, DRAM marketing, SK hynix. “The company will cement our leadership in the premium memory market by providing the highest performance products that meet customers’ needs.“

⁽¹⁾ LPDDR: Low Power DRAM for mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets, aimed at minimizing power consumption and features low voltage operation. LPDDR5X DRAM is the 7th gen product, succeeding the series of such that ends with 1, 2, 3, 4, 4X and 5.
⁽²⁾ HKMG: A next-gen process that uses a material with a high dielectric constant (K) in the insulating film inside DRAM transistors to prevent leakage currents and to improve capacitance. It reduces power consumption while increasing speed. SK hynix had become the industry’s first to integrate the process in mobile DRAM in November 2022.
⁽³⁾ Edge Device: A device that operates at the edge of a network – an edge-to-cloud continuum – that collects and transmits data to connect the local network to an external WAN (i.e. cloud, data center), such as personal smart devices, vehicles and IoT devices.