SK hynix Begins Supplying ZUFS 4.1 Mobile NAND Solution

SK hynix Inc. announced that it has begun supplying its performance mobile NAND solution ZUFS 4.1 to customers, marking a world’s 1st mass production of this solution.

The solution’s adoption in the latest smartphones reinforces the company’s technological excellence in the global market. ZUFS 4.1 will enhance smartphones’ powerful on-device AI capabilities, offering users an innovative experience.

The company successfully completed the qualification process for the solution in June this year through close collaboration with customers. In July, the company began mass production and started supplying the product.

ZUFS, or Zoned UFS ⁽¹⁾, is an extended specification of UFS ⁽²⁾ that applies Zoned Storage technology, which stores data in different zones based on its usage and characteristics.

When installed in a smartphone, ZUFS 4.1 enhances the operation speed of the OS and improves data management efficiency. As a result, it mitigates read performance degradation over extended use by more than 4 times compared to conventional UFS, enabling a 45% reduction in app launch times. Unlike conventional UFS which writes new data by overwriting existing data, ZUFS 4.1 writes data sequentially. This data storage method has resulted in a 47% reduction in AI app launch times.

These performance characteristics position ZUFS 4.1 as an optimal solution for today’s mobile environment, where on-device AI and large-scale data processing are essential.

In addition, SK hynix has enhanced the error-handling capabilities of ZUFS 4.1 compared to version 4.0 developed in May 2024. By detecting errors with greater precision and clearly communicating the necessary corrective actions to the central processing unit, the latest solution is expected to significantly improve system reliability and recovery performance.

“ZUFS 4.1, which we have successfully begun to supply, is the first solution developed and mass-produced through collaboration aimed at optimizing Android OS and storage devices. Looking ahead, its applications are expected to expand,” said Justin Kim, president and head, AI Infra, SK hynix. “We will continue to supply NAND solutions that meet customer needs in a timely manner, while strengthening partnerships with global companies to strengthen our competitive edge in the AI memory sector.”

⁽¹⁾ Zoned UFS (ZUFS): First introduced by the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) in 2023 as an extended specification of UFS. Development of ZUFS 4.1, based on the JEDEC UFS 4.1 standard, was completed in 2025.
⁽²⁾ Universal Flash Storage (UFS): A high-speed flash memory storage specification for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Since the launch of UFS 1.0 in 2011, the specification has evolved through versions 2.0 (2013), 2.1 (2016), 3.0 (2018), 3.1 (2020), 4.0 (2022), and 4.1 (2025), with each version significantly improving data transfer speed and power efficiency.