64 –layer V NAND Competition
Samsung Electronics announced on July 28 that it will launch fourth-generation V NAND flash memory-based SSDs in the market within this year. It will be the first time for Samsung Electronics to disclose the time of mass production of V NAND flash. “Mass production of fourth-generation V NAND flash memories are proceeding as planned,” said Jeon Se-won, executive director of the Memory Business Department at Samsung Electronics in an IR conference call of the second quarter.
“In the case of 3D NAND flash memories, considering technological difficulties or initial investment costs, it will not be easy to dramatically increase its supply next year, too,” Jeon said. “But more 3D NAND flash memories will be used in contents, mobile platforms and SSD servers.”
When Samsung releases a 64-layer V NAND-based SSDs, they will be able to mass-produce 15.32-plus TB SSDs for servers. Since A 15.32TB product fetches about 10 million won, demand will lopsided toward Samsung Electronics, further boosting profitability.
Earlier, Toshiba announced its plan to mass-produce 64-layer 3D NAND flash memories in the third quarter of this year. So it is forecast that the stability of products will determine the winner and loser of the competition between the two companies.
The strong performance of Samsung’s Semiconductor Business Division is attributable to the supply of 48-layer V NAND flash memories triggered by steady demand for high-capacity SSDs for servers and a rise in Chinese mobile companies’ demand for high-capacity storage devices.
Samsung Electronics is the only company that has secured 48-layer NAND lamination technology. Samsung Electronics is planning to concentrate on facility investment this year now that the company expects demand for V NAND SSDs and OLED panels for smartphones will rise significantly.
“We will beef up cloud-based service such as Samsung Pay, Samsung Knox and S Heath by internalizing cloud technology,” said Samsung Electronics with reference to American cloud provider Joyent acquired by Samsung Electronics recently. On the day, Samsung Electronics announced that the company posted 50.937 trillion won (US$44.29 billion) in sales, 8.144 trillion won (US$7.08 billion) in operating income and 5.847 trillion won (US$5.08 billion) in net income in the second half of this year. The three also jumped 4.94%, 18.06% and 1.65%, respectively from a year before.
Samsung Electronics entered the 8 trillion won (US$6.95 billion) level in operating income in nine quarters with even growth in all divisions such as IT& Mobile(IM), CE (Consumer Electronics) and DS (Display & Semiconductors).
By business divisions, the IM Division, the CE Division and the DS Division chalked up 4.320 trillion won, 1.030 trillion won and 2.790 trillion won in operating income, respectively. In the DS Division, semiconductors and display panels recorded 2.650 trillion won and 140 billion won in operating income, each. In particular, display panels successfully go into black. System LSI highly expected to lose money actually turned much profit.