Memory and storage products are the fastest-growing segments of the semiconductor market, moving from about 10% of revenues to more than 25% over the last two decades.
It makes sense then that companies like Micron Technology would seek ways to capitalize on that growth by expanding form factors and features of recent products to meet expanding needs in client computers and data center servers as well as growth in the smart auto space.
On Tuesday, Micron Technologies CEO Sanjay Mehrotra announced during a Computex keynote volume delivery of a PCIe Gen4 solid-state drive building on its 176-layer NAND that first began shipping last November.
Also, the company said it will begin shipping the world’s first 1a node-based LPDDR4x DRAM in June, ideal for mobile computing. And, the DDR4 using 1a has been validated on data center servers such as the third generation AMD EPYC processor.
Mainstream deployment of AI and 5G will increase demands for data memory and storage, Mehrotra said.
Sumit Sadana, EVP and chief business officer at Micron, said in a briefing with reporters that the combination of AI and 5G will create an “infinitely more capable compute platform” affecting industrial Internet of Things and smart autos, among others. “Every segment will see those benefits for the next decade or two,” he said, representing a $13 trillion global business opportunity for memory and storage.
Micron announced that Micron’s 1a based memory will be used by Acer of Taiwan for its systems, from data centers to personal computers. The 1a can provide 40% more memory density and up to 20% better power savings in mobile uses.
For the smart auto segment, Micron announced it is sampling 128GB and 256GB density 96-layer NAND in its new portfolio of Universal Flash Storage 3.1 NAND products. Qualcomm announced it will use the Micron UFS 3.1 for auto, including adaptive and context-ready digital dashboards. Micron said it will focus on UFS 3.1 for in-vehicle infotainment and related applications for faster starts, over-the-air updates and greater response times in launching apps.
Kris Baxter, corporate vice president and general manager of Micron’s Embedded Business Unit, said car owners are demanding their driving in-cabin experiences can match the capabilities of their smartphones.
Asked about the auto chip supply shortage, Sadana said Micron owns its own manufacturing facilities and can react quicker than other companies. Across the industry, he said, “there’s definitely a lot of demand going unfulfilled…It will be a good period of time to bring things back in balance.”
Baxter said he cannot foresee any constraints on developing UFS 3.1 products, however.
A December earthquake off the coast of Taiwan affected two Micron facilities reducing DRAM supply for 1Q 2021.
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