Samsung has significantly improved the production yields of its sixth-generation 10 nanometer (nm) DRAM technology, known as 1c DRAM, reaching 50-70% in recent testing according to reports from Sedaily, cited by TrendForce. This marks a substantial leap from last year´s sub-30% yield levels, signaling a major turnaround in the company´s push to stay ahead of rivals in advanced memory manufacturing.
Unlike competitors SK Hynix and Micron, which are committed to the established 1b DRAM process for their HBM4 (high bandwidth memory) products, Samsung has opted for the more challenging 1c DRAM. This riskier strategy appears to be paying off as improved yields are enabling the company to expand its manufacturing capacity. Samsung is already preparing to ramp up 1c DRAM production at its Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek sites, with these upgrades expected to commence before the end of the year. Company officials believe that this will further support their aggressive timeline for bringing HBM4 solutions to market.
The improved DRAM yields are particularly important for Samsung´s ambitions in both mobile and server markets. The Pyeongtaek Line 4 facility will handle manufacturing of the new sixth-generation chips, which are said to benefit from a design overhaul that delayed initial rollout by more than a year but resulted in the current performance improvements. Meanwhile, HBM4 manufacturing dedicated to high-performance and data-intensive applications, including Artificial Intelligence workloads, will be focused at the separate Pyeongtaek Line 3. Despite the progress, industry experts caution that both 1c DRAM and HBM4 products remain in early stages and will require continuous oversight and fine-tuning before mass market adoption. Samsung aims to commence HBM4 mass production later this year, a timeline made possible by recent breakthroughs in DRAM yield improvement.
