[Semiconductor Deep Freeze③] Overcoming Crisis with Memory 'Super-Gap' Technology... From CXL to DDR5

Semiconductor Industry After Super Boom: 'Ultra-Gap Technology Is the Answer'
Samsung, SK, Intel, AMD Ready to Supply Next-Gen Memory Semiconductors Enhancing CPU Efficiency with No Issues

Samsung Electronics DDR5 (Double Data Rate) DRAM module power management semiconductor. (Photo by Samsung Electronics)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok]

"We will overcome the crisis by developing high value-added memory semiconductor products."

This has been the management strategy frequently announced this year by the world's top memory semiconductor companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. It can be summarized as "technology, technology, and more technology." Both companies are actively working to maintain their major big-tech customers and profitability by introducing portfolios such as next-generation interface CXL (Compute Express Link) memory semiconductors that improve the efficiency of central processing units (CPUs) used in servers, and next-generation DRAM standard 'DDR5 (Double Data Rate) DRAM' products.

According to the semiconductor industry on the 15th, aside from news about 'leading-edge process innovation,' there has been little good news from domestic semiconductor companies in the second half of the year. On the 25th of last month, Samsung Electronics announced the shipment of 3-nanometer foundry products using the world's first Gate-All-Around (GAA) new process technology, but it is a field that takes a long time to yield results in securing customers, competing for market share with Taiwan's TSMC, the world's number one, and expanding overseas supply chains such as in the United States. In mid-last month, there was also gloomy news such as delays in the expansion of SK Hynix's Cheongju plant. Concerns in the industry grew as forecasts of profitability deterioration due to falling memory semiconductor prices and inventory reduction, which directly affect the profitability of Samsung and SK, spread.

As a card to overcome the crisis, both Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have pulled out the reversal card of 'super-gap' management. They announced the development of new products with a technological level high enough to overwhelm competitors.

Samsung Electronics introduced next-generation interface CXL memory semiconductor products that implement terabyte (TB)-level capacity. These attracted attention for their compatibility with products such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). About a year after Samsung Electronics announced the world's first CXL DRAM semiconductor 'CXL Memory Expander' on May 11 last year, the biggest achievement in this field, they informed the market that they had significantly improved performance.

Exactly one year after the technology development announcement, on May 10, they announced the creation of 512-gigabyte (GB) CXL DRAM, reducing data latency to one-fifth of the previous level. At the Flash Memory Summit (FMS) held in the United States on the 3rd, they unveiled the 'CXL Memory Semantic SSD' solution. This product, which improves response speed by 20 times compared to existing SSDs in AI, ML, and other fields, was designed for use in areas that utilize a large amount of 'small-sized' data such as AI and ML.

SK Hynix also entered the 'CXL super-gap' competition by releasing a DDR5 DRAM-based CXL memory sample on the 1st. They plan to leverage the 'versatility' of CXL, which is used in CPUs, graphics processing units (GPUs), accelerators, and memory of various information technology (IT) devices, to secure customers and profitability.

Samsung and SK's DDR5 DRAM, which is scheduled to be supplied to next-generation server CPUs known as the highest value-added among major IT products, cannot be overlooked. With news that global companies such as Intel and AMD will unveil next-generation server CPUs next month, the possibility of Samsung and SK benefiting as suppliers of DDR5 DRAM to these companies has increased.

According to the industry, Intel plans to showcase the server CPU 'Xeon Scalable Processor' (also known as 'Sapphire Rapids') and the 13th generation CPU 'Raptor Lake' at a developer event next month. AMD is also expected to unveil the Ryzen 700 series, a Zen 4-based desktop CPU, around mid-next month. CPU companies tend to change supporting processors such as DRAM when launching high-performance new server products. DDR5 DRAM is a memory semiconductor that assists CPU calculations. It is known to have about twice the processing speed compared to DDR4 DRAM.

Samsung and SK are ready. Both companies have world-leading 14nm (nanometer; 1nm is one-billionth of a meter) class cutting-edge process technology. They are also steadily building production capabilities for 10nm-class DDR5 DRAM using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment. Samsung Electronics' DDR5 DRAM features a data processing speed of over 4800Mbps, about twice as fast as existing DDR4 DRAM, and a maximum capacity expanded about fourfold to 512GB. By directly embedding power management integrated circuits (PMIC) on the substrate, power efficiency has been improved by more than 30%. SK Hynix shipped samples of its largest 24Gb (gigabit) DDR5 DRAM product at the end of last year. They increased the capacity from the existing 16Gb DDR5 DRAM to 24Gb and improved speed by up to about 33%.

As digital transformation accelerates, demand for high-performance, low-power memory semiconductors is expected to surge, making server CPUs and DDR5 DRAM likely to go hand in hand like 'needle and thread,' according to consensus in the semiconductor industry. In particular, DRAM used in server CPUs has a large market and broad versatility.

According to global market research firm Omdia, the share of DDR5 DRAM in total DRAM shipments is expected to expand from 3% in the third quarter to 4% in the fourth quarter of this year, and to 22% in the fourth quarter of next year. The share of server DRAM in the total DRAM market is expected to increase significantly from 4% in the third quarter to 8% in the fourth quarter, and to 40% in the fourth quarter of next year. Maintaining the 'super-gap' strategy in this market is the vision of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.