Samsung develops new mobile memory chip

Samsung Electronics said Wednesday it has developed a new mobile memory chip that is thinner and uses less power than previous generations of chips, a development that could affect a wide range of portable consumer electronic devices.

Samsung claims it has developed the first 1-gigabit DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chip for mobile products, using 80-nanometer process technology. The new chip is at least 20 percent thinner than existing chipsets that use up to two 512-megabit chips, and it uses about 30 percent less power, the company said in a press release.

Samsung believes the new chip will be more cost-effective than other high-density mobile chipsets. And it will be used in a wide range of mobile handsets as well as in other consumer electronic products, such as digital cameras, portable media players and portable gaming products.

Samsung said it plans to mass produce the new device beginning in the second quarter of 2007.