Hynix Semiconductor is trying to narrow the gap with its bigger rivals in the NAND flash memory chip market by joining them in producing the most cost-efficient products. The move comes as the outlook for the NAND flash market is bright thanks to strong demand for smartphones and tablet PCs. Hynix, although ranking second in the DRAM chip market, trails a fourth in the NAND flash market.
The Korean company on Sunday announced the mass production of its 64-gigabit NAND flash chips, which are based on the most advanced 20 nanometer-class technology. It is the fourth memory chipmaker that has started to manufacture 20-nm-class NAND chips after Samsung Electronics, Toshiba and IM Flash Technologies, the joint venture between Intel and Micron.
“We plan to raise the portion of our 20-nm-class NAND flash products to 10 percent of our total NAND flash output by the end of this year, while increasing the portion of 20-nm, 30-nm products to mid-60 percent, from the current 30 percent,” a Hynix spokesperson said.