Micron in Volume Production of 9th-Gen NAND Flash Technology and 2650 NVMe SSD

Micron Technology, Inc. is shipping 9th–Gen (G9) TLC NAND in SSDs, making it the 1st in the industry to achieve this milestone.

Micron G9 NAND features a transfer speed of 3.6GB/s, delivering unsurpassed bandwidth for reading and writing data. This NAND enables best-in-class performance for AI and other data-intensive use cases from personal devices and edge servers to enterprise and cloud data centers.⁽¹⁾

“The shipment of Micron G9 NAND is a testament to Micron’s prowess in process technology and design innovations,” said Scott DeBoer, EVP, technology and products, Micron. “Micron G9 NAND is up to 73% denser than competitive technologies in the market today, allowing for more compact and efficient storage solutions that benefit both consumers and businesses.”

Leading-edge technology delivers performance
The company’s G9 NAND leverages the industry’s fastest NAND I/O speed to meet the high-throughput needs of data-centric workloads, delivering 50% faster data transfer than any NAND currently shipping in an SSD. ⁽²⁾ These G9 NAND also delivers up to 99% higher write bandwidth and 88% better read bandwidth per die than currently available competitive NAND solutions. ⁽³⁾ These per-die benefits translate to performance and energy efficiency gains in SSDs and embedded NAND solutions.

Like its previous-gen NAND, the company’s G9 NAND fits in a compact 11.5×13.5mm package, using 28% less space than competing products, making it the smallest high-density NAND available. ⁽⁴⁾ Higher density in a smaller footprint maximizes design options for a diverse set of use cases.

“For the third generation in a row, Micron has led the industry in introducing innovative, leading-edge NAND technology. Products integrating Micron G9 NAND will provide demonstrable performance benefits over competitive offerings,” said Sumit Sadana, EVP and CBO, Micron. “Micron G9 NAND will serve as a foundation for storage innovations, delivering value for customers across all end markets.”

G9 NAND enables class-leading performance in Micron 2650 SSD

The 2650 NVMe SSD integrates the G9 TLC NAND to deliver a user experience for everyday computing that surpasses competitors in PCMark 10 testing. ⁽⁵⁾

“Nearing theoretical saturation levels for PCIe Gen4, the Micron 2650 SSD uses our new G9 NAND to push the boundaries of what a value TLC client SSD can achieve,” said Prasad Alluri, VP and GM, client storage, Micron. “Delivering up to 38% higher PCMark 10 benchmark scores than competitive solutions, this drive is set to redefine the user experience for this class of SSD.”

“AI advancements are increasing the data generated and driving the need for more storage, leading customers to require better performance to keep pace with AI,” said Jeff Janukowicz, research VP, SSDs and enabling technologies, IDC. “SSDs like the Micron 2650, which benefit from the latest generation NAND innovations, will be essential to a broad range of users from businesses to individual consumers.”

The firm’s 2650 NVMe SSD offers reliability and features performance-enhancing accelerated caching for faster write performance, courtesy of its Dynamic SLC Cache. This SSD provides real-world saturation performance for PCIe Gen4, with up to 7,000MB/s sequential read. When compared to the competition, it delivers performance with up to 70% better sequential read, up to 103% better sequential write, up to 156% better random read, and up to 85% better random write. ⁽⁶⁾ These figures underscore Micron’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of technology and delivering  performance to its customers.

Available in the company’s 2650 SSD for client OEMs, G9 NAND is also in qualification with customers in component form and in a consumer-based Crucial SSD.

⁽¹⁾ Based on the industry-leading ONFI transfer rate of 3.6GB/s, faster than NAND speeds from competitors, including specifically Samsung, SK hynix, Solidigm, and Kioxia/WD.
⁽²⁾ ‘[I]n the market’ refers to NAND product that has reached volume manufacturing (>10k units/month) and is being sold and publicly marketed in a currently available SSD.
⁽³⁾ Bandwidth comparisons are made against different competitive devices in the market.
⁽⁴⁾ ‘High-density’ refers to 1Tb 3D TLC NAND.
⁽⁵⁾ SSD comparisons are based on currently in-production client value SSDs from the top five competitive suppliers of client SSDs by revenue as of May 2024, excluding consoles, as per Forward Insights analyst report, SSD Supplier Status Q1/24. 1TB SSDs tested in Micron labs.
⁽⁶⁾ Performance comparisons are based on publicly available data sheet information available at product launch vs. Gen4 SSD competitors per Footnote 4.

Resources:
Blog: Micron’s next step in storage revolution: Micron G9 NAND & 2650 NVMe SSD
Micron G9 NAND webpage   
Micron 2650 SSD webpage   
Micron 2650 product brief link