14 DAY TRIAL // One might say that solid-state drives, memory cards and flash drives are plenty fast already, but that will only last until the new level in performance is achieved, and Samsung wants to reach that stage first.
It is amazing how different semiconductors follow different manufacturing process advancement roadmaps.
Though we’ve only just learned about Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company investing $10 billion (7.8 Billion Euro) in a 20nm fab (for SoCs, GPUs, CPUs, etc.), the corporation has begun 10nm preparations as well, a move that Samsung is taking now also.
The new memory fabrication line will be based in Xi'an, China, and it should be ready for operation by 2014.
Samsung will pump around $2.3 billion (1.78 billion Euro) in the venture, this being the single largest investment made by Samsung China.
"It is a great honor to announce our groundbreaking at Xi'an, a city of tremendous historic and academic significance, as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and China," said Oh-hyun Kwon, vice chairman and chief executive officer of Samsung Electronics.
"At this time, our memory semiconductor business also marks its 20th consecutive year as the leader of the memory industry. The new Samsung China Semiconductor fab will lay a solid foundation for continued supply of leading memory components, enabling Samsung to further spearhead the advancement of the IT industry and enhanced user experiences."
10nm-class technology will be used in making faster and more energy-efficient NAND Flash memory chips, useful in high-speed and large-density data storage applications, as well as mobile devices, of course.
No clear idea on the production capacity of the factory yet, but at least a few tens of thousands 300mm wafers should be made in a month.
As for the staff and workers, Samsung will transfer people there but it should also train those already living in Xi'an. The place is, after all, home to 37 universities and three thousand IT R&D centers, so there should be no shortage of talent.