SK Hynix Expands Mobile DRAM Market with Ultra-High-Speed 'LDDR5T'

LPDDR5T Outperforms 7th Generation
High Efficiency at 9.6Gbps Operating Speed
"Wide Range of LPDDR5T Applications"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Pyeonghwa] SK Hynix has developed the fastest mobile DRAM currently available, the ‘LPDDR5T (Low Power Double Data Rate 5 Turbo)’. This DRAM is used in mobile products including smartphones and tablets, and features a 13% improvement in operating speed compared to the latest existing products. SK Hynix plans to secure leadership in the mobile DRAM market by mass-producing the new product starting in the second half of the year.

SK Hynix announced on the 25th that it has developed LPDDR5T and provided samples to customers. SK Hynix added the word ‘Turbo’ at the end of the product name to emphasize that the new product supports the highest speed among mobile DRAMs currently available on the market.

LPDDR5T is an upgraded version of the mobile DRAM (LPDDR5X) that SK Hynix unveiled in November last year. LPDDR is a mobile DRAM standard that minimizes power consumption, with the latest standard being the 7th generation (5X). This new product is a version first developed by SK Hynix, upgrading the 7th generation performance before the official launch of the 8th generation (LPDDR6) product. Compared to its predecessor, it boasts an operating speed 13% faster at 9.6 gigabits per second (Gbps).

LPDDR5T operates at the minimum voltage standard of 1.01 to 1.12 volts (V) set by the JEDEC (Joint Electron Device Engineering Council), achieving ultra-low power characteristics. To this end, SK Hynix applied the ‘HKMG (High-K Metal Gate)’ process to the new product. HKMG uses materials with a high dielectric constant (K) as the insulating layer inside the DRAM transistor, which blocks leakage current and improves capacitance. It is a next-generation process that reduces power consumption while increasing speed.

SK Hynix is confident that LPDDR5T will lead the mobile DRAM market until the next generation LPDDR6 is released. SK Hynix’s assessment is that as the 5th generation mobile communication (5G) smartphone market grows, demand for high-performance memory will inevitably increase. In fact, demand for products with LPDDR5 or higher standards is rapidly increasing, becoming mainstream in the market. Market research firm Omdia forecasts that LPDDR5-based products will account for 55.9% of the total mobile DRAM market this year, with the share expected to rise to 85.4% by 2026.

SK Hynix expects the application range of LPDDR5T to expand to artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR) fields. Accordingly, it plans to secure leadership in the mobile DRAM market by supplying new products in various capacities. Recently, SK Hynix combined LPDDR5T single chips to create a 16-gigabyte (GB) capacity package product and provided samples to customers. The data processing speed of the package product is 77GB per second, capable of processing 15 full-HD (FHD) movies in one second. SK Hynix plans to begin full-scale mass production of the new product in the second half of the year based on the 10-nanometer-class 4th generation (1a) fine process.

Ryu Seongsu, Vice President and Head of DRAM Product Planning at SK Hynix, said, “Through the development of this new product, we have met the demands of customers requiring ultra-high speed,” adding, “We will continue to strive to develop breakthrough technologies that will lead the next-generation semiconductor market and become a game changer in the IT world.”