Samsung has introduced the industry's first 8GB (gigabyte) LPDDR4 (low power, double data rate) DRAM package for mobile devices.
Designed with high-resolution, large-screen devices in mind, the package consists of four of Samsung's newest 16Gb (gigabit) LPDDR4 memory chips built using 10nm-class process technology. It's worth noting that this is not 10nm straight up as Samsung says its 10nm-class is a process node somewhere between 10nm and 20nm (similarly, 20nm-class is somewhere between 20nm and 30nm).
Samsung says the new 8GB LPDDR4 operates at up to 4,266 Mbps (megabits per second), twice as fast as DDR4 DRAM in PCs that typically runs at 2,133 Mbps. Assuming a 64-bit (x64) wide memory bus, Samsung says this can be viewed as transmitting over 34GBs of data per second.
The package, which measures 15mm x 15mm x 1.0mm, also allows for more efficient power consumption. Thanks to the new 10nm-class process technology and Samsung's proprietary low-power circuit design, the chip offers twice the capacity of Samsung's 20nm-class 4GB DRAM package while consuming roughly the same amount of power.
Reducing its footprint is no doubt attractive to manufacturing partners as it'll allow them to further slim down mobile devices and / or make more room for larger batteries.
Samsung didn't say when products with the new package would begin shipping. If Samsung has ambitions of being the first device maker to do so, it's likely that we could see the new package show up in the Galaxy S8 in the first quarter of 2017.