Samsung Produces SSD With 100-layer V-NAND

Samsung Electronics has begun production of V-NAND with 100-layers, an industry first, the company has announced.

The 256Gb 3-bit V-NAND will be used to make SSDs for enterprise PCs and has been supplied to a global PC maker, the South Korean tech giant said.

Samsung only need one etching step for the 100 layers of cells, and said it was the best product in the market in terms of speed, productivity, and power efficiency.

With Samsung having already released its 250GB SATA PC SSD, which it supplies to an unnamed client, the company will increase production for the second half of the year to meet new demand and produce SSDs and eUFSs using 512Gb 3-bit V-NAND in a variety of specs, it said.

Samsung said its 100-layer, or 6th generation, V-NAND boasts a writing speed of 450㎲ and a reading response time of 45㎲. Performance has also increased by 10% and power consumption decreased by 15% compared to 90-layer V-NANDs.

Production steps have been reduced and chip sizes decreased, which will increase production rates by 20%.

Samsung has plans to later deploy the new V-NANDs for mobile and automobile applications to cement its leadership position, it said.

The South Korean tech behemoth previously warned of persistent uncertainties ahead of its second quarter earnings statement.

Among these uncertainties are the trade tensions between Japan and South Korea. Japan removed South Korea from its white list of favored trading partners earlier this week, and last month imposed trade restrictions on key materials used for semiconductor production. Despite this, Samsung has not announced any reduction in its memory production, unlike compatriot SK Hynix whose leadership has ordered businesses to draw-up contingency plans. Instead, Samsung is planning to invest further on production in the second half of the year. 

The company Q2 operating profits halved compared to the year prior and its memory business' profit also dropped significantly from the downturn in demand.

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