Elpida Preps Sample Shipments of 25 nm, 4 Gb DRAM

Elpida recently said that it successfully produced prototypes of 4 Gb SDRAM memory chips in 25 nm.

The company previously announced 2 Gb chips that began shipping in limited quantities in July. According to Elpida, the new 4 Gb chips will succeed the company's current 4 Gb, 30 nm DDR3 product line and deliver 45 percent greater production efficiency and run at 25 to 30 percent reduced operating current or 30 to 50 percent less standby current.

The manufacturer did not say when the memory will be entering mass production, but noted that sample shipments should be available by the end of the year. Elpida said that the new technologies caters to the "explosive" growth in demand for DRAM memory in devices that enable "instantaneous processing of music, pictures, video and other high-density data." These smaller memory chips will initially target especially ultra-compact products such as tablets and tablets.