Samsung to start mass-production of 90nm DDR at the end of this year

With DRAM representing 10% of global chip revenues last year, the transition of DRAM suppliers to 90nm technology is key for the current semiconductor up-cycle, iSuppli said in a weekly commentary published by Silicon Strategies on June 25.

Samsung is the first DRAM company to begin the transition. According to the sources, Samsung will initially use 90nm technology to produce 512Mbit DDR2 400, 533 and 667 components. The company has not responded to an inquiry for comment.

Samsung said in a July 16 conference call that it is starting to use 90nm technology for producing DRAM and expects the technology to account for 3% of its wafer starts this quarter and 5% next quarter. However, it did not indicate whether the technology would be used for DDR2.