Samsung starts mass production of 256MB DRAM

Samsung Electronics recently announced that it has begun mass production of
256MB eXtreme Data Rate (XDR) DRAM, a next-generation memory device for
multimedia applications. The new memory targets applications that require the
ability to process high-quality video, such as the latest game consoles, digital
TVs, servers and workstations.

The XDR has an Octal Data Rate process that transfers data at eight bits per
clock cycle, while cranking up the transfer speed to eight Gigabytes per second.
That speed is ten times faster than DDR 400 memory and five times faster than
RDRAM (PC800). To transfer data in a stable manner at extremely high speeds,
Samsung is using Differential Rambus Signal Level (DRSL) technology.

"XDR technology has tremendous potential to become a leading memory
solution for today's highest-performance multimedia applications and we're
enthusiastic about its prospects," said Mueez Deen, Marketing Director,
Graphics Memory, Samsung Semiconductors.

Moreover, Samsung is scheduled to introduce a 512Mb XDR DRAM, capable of
transferring data as fast as 12.8 Gigabytes per second, during the first half of
this year. With the introduction of yet another leading edge DRAM technology,
the company proves its leadership position in the high-performance DRAM market.
IDC predicts that the XDR DRAM market will grow steadily, beginning in 2005,
with global shipments exceeding 800 million 256MB-equivalent units until 2009.

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