A few months ago, we covered proof of overclocking an off-the-shelf 2.5-inch SATA III NAND Flash SSD thanks to Gabriel Ferraz, Computer Engineer and TechPowerUp's SSD database maintainer. Now, he is back with another equally interesting project of modifying a Quad-Level Cell (QLC) SATA III SSD into a Single-Level Cell (SLC) SATA III SSD. Using the Crucial BX500 512 GB SSD, he aimed at transforming the QLC drive into a more endurant and higher-performance SLC. Silicon Motion SM2259XT2 powers the drive of choice with a single-core ARC 32-bit CPU clocked at 550 MHz and two channels running at 800 MT/s (400 MHz) without a DRAM cache. This particular SSD uses four NAND Flash dies from Micron with NY240 part numbers. Two dies are controlled per channel. These NAND Flash dies were designed to operate at 1,600 MT/s (800 MHz) but are limited to only 525 MT/s in this drive in the real world.

The average endurance of these dies is 1,500 P/E cycles in NANDs FortisFlash and about 900 P/E cycles in Mediagrade. Transforming the same drive in the pSLC is bumping those numbers to 100,000 and 60,000, respectively. However, getting that to work is the tricky part. To achieve this, you have to download MPtools for the Silicon Motion SM2259XT2 controller from the USBdev.ru website and find the correct die used in the SSD. Then, the software is modified carefully, and a case-sensitive configuration file is modified to allow for SLC mode, which forces the die to run as a SLC NAND Flash die. Finally, firmware folder must be reached and files need to be moved arround in a way seen in the video.

Samsung Electronics today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024. The Company posted KRW 71.92 trillion in consolidated revenue on the back of strong sales of flagship Galaxy S24 smartphones and higher prices for memory semiconductors. Operating profit increased to KRW 6.61 trillion as the Memory Business returned to profit by addressing demand for high value-added products. The Mobile eXperience (MX) Business posted higher earnings and the Visual Display and Digital Appliances businesses also recorded increased profitability.

The weakness of the Korean won against major currencies resulted in a positive impact on company-wide operating profit of about KRW 0.3 trillion compared to the previous quarter. The Company's total capital expenditures in the first quarter stood at KRW 11.3 trillion, including KRW 9.7 trillion for the Device Solutions (DS) Division and KRW 1.1 trillion on Samsung Display Corporation (SDC). Spending on memory was focused on facilities and packaging technologies to address demand for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), DDR5 and other advanced products, while foundry investments were concentrated on establishing infrastructure to meet medium- to long-term demand. Display investments were mainly made in IT OLED products and flexible display technologies.

SK hynix Inc. announced today that it recorded 12.43 trillion won in revenues, 2.886 trillion won in operating profit (with an operating margin of 23%), and 1.917 trillion won in net profit (with a net margin of 15%) in the first quarter. With revenues marking an all-time high for a first quarter and the operating profit a second-highest following the records of the first quarter of 2018, SK hynix believes that it has entered the phase of a clear rebound following a prolonged downturn.

The company said that an increase in the sales of AI server products backed by its leadership in AI memory technology including HBM and continued efforts to prioritize profitability led to a 734% on-quarter jump in the operating profit. With the sales ratio of eSSD, a premium product, on the rise and the average selling prices rising, the NAND business has also achieved a meaningful turnaround in the same period.

North American customers are increasing their orders for storage products as energy efficiency becomes a key priority for AI inference servers. This, in turn, is driving up demand for QLC enterprise SSDs. Currently, only Solidigm and Samsung have certified QLC products, with Solidigm actively promoting its QLC products and standing to benefit the most from this surge in demand. TrendForce predicts shipments of QLC enterprise SSD bits to reach 30 exabytes in 2024—increasing fourfold in volume from 2023.

TrendForce identifies two main reasons for the increasing use of QLC SSDs in AI applications: the products' fast read speeds and TCO advantages. AI inference servers primarily perform read operations, which occur less frequently than the data writing required by AI training servers. In comparison to HDDs, QLC enterprise SSDs offer superior read speeds and have capacities that have expanded up to 64 TB.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that it has begun mass production for its one-terabit (Tb) triple-level cell (TLC) 9th-generation vertical NAND (V-NAND), solidifying its leadership in the NAND flash market.

"We are excited to deliver the industry's first 9th-gen V-NAND, which will bring future applications leaps forward. In order to address the evolving needs for NAND flash solutions, Samsung has pushed the boundaries in cell architecture and operational scheme for our next-generation product," said SungHoi Hur, Head of Flash Product & Technology at Samsung Electronics. "Through our latest V-NAND, Samsung will continue to set the trend for the high-performance, high-density solid state drive (SSD) market that meets the needs for the coming AI generation."

Micron Technology, Inc., today demonstrated its continued NAND technology leadership by announcing that its 232-layer QLC NAND is now in mass production and shipping in select Crucial SSDs, in volume production to enterprise storage customers and sampling to OEM PC manufacturers in the Micron 2500 NMVe SSD.

Micron 232-layer QLC NAND delivers unparalleled performance for use cases across mobile, client, edge and data center storage by leveraging these important capabilities:

• Industry-leading bit-density, up to 28% more compact than leading competitors'1 latest products
• Industry-leading NAND I/O speeds of 2400 MT/s, a 50% improvement over the prior generation
• 24% better read performance over the prior generation
• 31% better programming performance over the prior generation

Micron Technology, Inc., today announced it is sampling the automotive-grade Micron 4150AT SSD, the world's first quad-port SSD, capable of interfacing with up to four systems on chips (SoCs) to centralize storage for software-defined intelligent vehicles. The Micron 4150AT SSD combines market-leading features such as single-root input/output virtualization (SR-IOV), a PCIe Generation 4 interface and ruggedized automotive design. With these features, the automotive-grade SSD provides the ecosystem with data center-level flexibility and power.

"As storage requirements race to keep up with rich in-vehicle experiences featuring AI and advanced algorithms for higher levels of autonomous safety, this era demands a new paradigm for automotive storage to match," said Michael Basca, Micron vice president of embedded products and systems. "Building on our collaboration with the innovators redefining next-generation automotive architectures, Micron has reimagined storage from the ground up to deliver the world's first quad-port SSD - the Micron 4150AT - which provides the industry flexibility and horsepower to roll out the transformative technologies on the horizon."

TrendForce projects a strong 13-18% increase in Q2 NAND Flash contract prices, with enterprise SSDs expected to rise highest. Despite Kioxia and WDC boosting their production capacity utilization rates from Q1 this year, other suppliers have kept their production strategies conservative. The slight dip in Q2 NAND Flash purchasing—compared to Q1—does not detract from the overall market's momentum, which continues to be influenced by decreasing supplier inventories and the impact of production cuts.

eMMC demand is predominantly driven by Chinese smartphone brands, leading to a substantial boost in shipments from Chinese module makers as some suppliers have reduced their supply. Buyers are increasingly adopting solutions from module makers to meet production needs, enhancing the technological advancement of Chinese module factories and their outreach to premier clients. This trend is likely to increase the penetration of eMMC products among smartphone customers, with a projected 10-15% rise in eMMC contract prices in Q2 due to a sharp rebound in NAND Flash wafer prices.

MSI, a global leader in gaming PC hardware, is thrilled to announce the release of its highly anticipated SSD powerhouse, the SPATIUM M580 FROZR, ushering in a new era of storage performance. With cutting-edge technology and innovative thermal solutions, this SSD is set to redefine the standards of speed and reliability in storage solutions.

SPATIUM M580 FROZR, Reaching New Heights with Crowned Speeds
The SPATIUM M580 FROZR sets a new benchmark in storage performance with its revolutionary features. Powered by the state-of-the-art PHISON E26 PCIe Gen 5 controller and equipped with advanced 3D NAND flash modules boasting 232 layers, this SSD achieves mind-blowing read speeds of up to 14.6 GB/s and write speeds of up to 12.7 GB/s, up to 2 times faster transfer rates compared to current PCIe 4.0 SSDs. This represents a significant leap in speeds, boosted by a DRAM cache buffer and a SLC Cache, providing users with lightning-fast data access and gaining valuable milliseconds in latency for gaming, content creation, and professional applications. Additionally, the M580 FROZR is fortified with LPDC ECC and E2E Data Protection, ensuring data integrity and reliability. With a high TBW (Terabytes Written) value and backed by a comprehensive 5-year warranty, users can trust in the durability and longevity of the SPATIUM M580 FROZR in 1 TB, 2 TB and 4 TB variants after an easy installation.

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, unveiled the expansion of its Compute Express Link (CXL) memory module portfolio and showcased its latest HBM3E technology, reinforcing leadership in high-performance and high-capacity solutions for AI applications.

In a keynote address to a packed crowd at Santa Clara's Computer History Museum, Jin-Hyeok Choi, Corporate Executive Vice President, Device Solutions Research America - Memory at Samsung Electronics, along with SangJoon Hwang, Corporate Executive Vice President, Head of DRAM Product and Technology at Samsung Electronics, took the stage to introduce new memory solutions and discuss how Samsung is leading HBM and CXL innovations in the AI era. Joining Samsung on stage was Paul Turner, Vice President, Product Team, VCF Division at VMware by Broadcom and Gunnar Hellekson, Vice President and General Manager at Red Hat to discuss how their software solutions combined with Samsung's hardware technology is pushing the boundaries of memory innovation.

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation ("Silicon Motion"), a global leader in designing and marketing NAND flash controllers for solid-state storage devices, today introduced the new generation FerriSSD NVMe PCIe Gen 4 x4 BGA SSD. This latest solution features support for i-temp and integrates advanced IntelligentSeries technology, delivering robust data integrity in extreme temperature environments that meet the rigorous demands of industrial embedded systems and automotive applications.

The latest FerriSSD BGA SSD supports PCIe Gen 4 x4 and uses high density 3D NAND within a compact 16 mm x 20 mm BGA chip-scale package. With storage capacities up to 1 TB, these high-performance embedded SSDs utilize Silicon Motion's latest innovations to achieve high sequential read speeds exceeding 6 GB/s and sequential write speeds exceeding 4 GB/s. Equipped with Silicon Motion's proprietary IntelligentSeries data protection technology that enhances reliability and performance through the use of encryption, data caching, data scanning and protect features, as well as supporting the i-temp requirements of operating in extreme temperatures from -40°C to + 85°C. This latest FerriSSD offers a high performance and highly reliable embedded storage solution for a broad range of applications and operating environments including in-car computing, thin client computing, point-of-sale terminals, multifunction printers, telecommunications equipment, factory automation tools, and a wide range of server applications.

InnoGrit's low-wattage 12 nanometer IG5666 controller popped up on the T-FORCE GE PRO PCIe 5.0 SSD series earlier in the year, but attention has turned to another consumer-grade design. Parent company—Yingren Technology—is not well known outside of China, although its InnoGrit brand has started to make inroads within Western markets. The enterprise-level YRS900 PCIe 5.0 SSD controller was announced last September—this open-source RISC-V-based solution was designed/engineered to "align with U.S. export restrictions." According to cnBeta and MyDrivers reports, a new YRS820 controller has successfully reached the mass production phase. This is a PCIe 5.0 consumer-grade controller, likely derived from its big sibling (YRS900).

According to InnoGrit presentation material, their new model is based on: "RISC-V instruction architecture, adopts a 4-channel PCIe 5.0 interface, is equipped with 8 NAND flash memory channels, supports NVMe 2.0 protocol, has an interface transmission rate of 2667MT/s, can be paired with 3D TLC/QLC, and supports a maximum capacity of up to 8 TB." Company representatives stated that the YRS820 controller is destined to be fitted on high-end consumer parts—the AI PC market segment is a key goal, since the YRS820 is able to: "accelerate data processing for specific applications and have high stability, consistency and security." cnBeta highlighted some anticipated performance figures: "YRS820 achieves sequential read 14 GB/s, sequential write 12 GB/s, random read and random write up to 2000K IOPs and 1500K IOPs respectively." InnoGrit did not reveal a release timetable, since their latest consumer-grade controller is going through a validation process. The company is currently collaborating with domestic NAND flash memory and DRAM manufacturers, as well as other industry bodies.

SK hynix press release about its upcoming PCB01 PCIe 5.0 SSD was a bit light on details and Anandtech got a closer look at the upcoming drive at GTC 2024. Not entirely unsurprising, the drive will be called the Platinum P51 rather than the PCB01, which is a continuation of the branding SK hynix is using for its current range of SSDs. As we already know, it'll feature a custom SK hynix controller and no further data was revealed to Anandtech, but the publication did manage to get some more details with regards to the NAND flash used.

The Platinum P51 is SK hynix first consumer SSD with its new-ish 238-layer 4D NAND flash based on the company's PUC (peri. under cell) technology, which places the peripheral circuits under the cell array. The official performance figures of the Platinum P51 appears to be somewhat lower than the press release from earlier today stated, with sequential read speeds of up to 13.5 GB/s and sequential write speeds of 11.5 GB/s. SK hynix will apparently release the drive in the typical SSD sizes of 500 GB, 1 TB and 2 TB. It'll be interesting how SK hynix in-house controller will compare to the second generation of Phison E26 based drives paired with Micron B58R NAND flash once it becomes available later this year.

SK hynix unveiled a new consumer product based on its latest solid-state drive (SSD), PCB01, which boasts industry-leading performance levels at GPU Technology Conference (GTC) 2024. Hosted by NVIDIA in San Jose, California from March 18-21, GTC is one of the world's leading conferences for AI developers. Applied to on-device AI PCs, PCB01 is a PCIe fifth-generation SSD which recently had its performance and reliability verified by a major global customer. After completing product development in the first half of 2024, SK hynix plans to launch two versions of PCB01 by the end of the year which target both major technology companies and general consumers.

Optimized for AI PCs, Capable of Loading LLMs Within One Second
Offering the industry's highest sequential read speed of 14 gigabytes per second (GB/s) and a sequential write speed of 12 GB/s, PCB01 doubles the speed specifications of its previous generation. This enables the loading of LLMs required for AI learning and inference in less than one second. To make on-device AIs operational, PC manufacturers create a structure that stores an LLM in the PC's internal storage and quickly transfers the data to DRAMs for AI tasks. In this process, the PCB01 inside the PC efficiently supports the loading of LLMs. SK hynix expects these characteristics of its latest SSD to greatly increase the speed and quality of on-device AIs.

TrendForce reports that anticipation of NAND Flash price hikes into Q2 has motivated certain suppliers to minimize losses and lower costs in hopes of returning to profitability this year. Kioxia and WD led the charge from March, boosting their capacity utilization rates to nearly 90%—a move not widely adopted by their competitors.

TrendForce points out that to meet the demand surge in the second half of the year, especially given Kioxia and Western Digital's currently low inventory, the production increase is mainly targeting 112-layer and select 2D products. This strategy is expected not only to secure profitability within the year but also to contribute to a projected 10.9% rise in the annual NAND Flash industry supply bit growth rate for 2024.

Phison Electronics, a leading provider of NAND controllers and storage solutions, today announced aiDAPTIV+ partnerships with ASUS, Gigabyte, MAINGEAR, and MediaTek. At GTC 2024, Phison and partners will demonstrate aiDAPTIV+, a hybrid hardware and software large language model (LLMs) fine-tune training solution that enables small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to process and retain local control of their sensitive machine learning (ML) data.

Foundational training of LLMs gives a broad understanding of language but aiDAPTIV+ enables the fine-tuning process that molds these models into specialized tools capable of understanding the topics that deliver precise results for your business needs. Commodity workstation hardware is enhanced with aiDAPTIV+ software, and first generation aiDAPTIVCache Series ai100 SSDs to enable larger training models than previously possible in a workstation form-factor.

MAINGEAR, a leading provider of high-performance custom PC systems, and Phison, a global leader in NAND controllers and storage solutions, today unveiled groundbreaking MAINGEAR PRO AI workstations with Phison's aiDAPTIV+ technology. Specifically engineered to democratize Large Language Model (LLM) development and training for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), these ultra-powerful workstations incorporate aiDAPTIV+ technology to deliver supercomputer LLM training capabilities at a fraction of the cost of traditional AI training servers.

As the demand for large-scale generative AI models continues to surge and their complexity increases, the potential for LLMs also expands. However, this rapid advancement in LLM AI technology has led to a notable boost in hardware requirements, making model training cost-prohibitive and inaccessible for many small to medium businesses.

With the effective reduction of production by suppliers, the price of memory is rebounding, and the semiconductor memory market finally shows signs of recovery. From the perspective of market dynamics and demand changes, NAND Flash, as one of the two major memory products, is experiencing a new round of changes. Since 3Q23, NAND Flash chip prices have been on the rise for several consecutive months. TrendForce believes that, under the precondition of a conservative market demand prospect for 2024, chip price trends will depend on suppliers' production capacity utilization.

There have been frequent developments in the NAND flash memory industry chain, with some manufacturers indicating a willingness to raise prices or increase production capacity utilization. Wallace C. Kou, General Manager of NAND Flash Supplier SIMO, stated that prices for the second quarter of NAND Flash have already been settled down, which will increase by 20%; some suppliers have started to make profits in the first quarter, and most suppliers will earn money after the second quarter.

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation ("Silicon Motion"), a global leader in designing and marketing NAND flash controllers for solid state storage devices, today introduced its UFS (Universal Flash Storage) 4.0 controller, the SM2756, as the flagship of the industry's broadest merchant portfolio of UFS controller solutions for the growing requirements of AI-powered smartphones as well as other high-performance applications including automotive and edge computing. The company also added a new, second generation SM2753 UFS 3.1 controller to broaden its portfolio of controllers now supporting UFS 4.0 to UFS 2.2 standards. Silicon Motion's UFS portfolio delivers high-performance and low power embedded storage for flagship to mainstream and value mobile and computing devices, supporting the broadest range of NAND flash, including next-generation high speed 3D TLC and QLC NAND.

The new SM2756 UFS 4.0 controller solution is the world's most advanced controller, built on leading 6 nm EUV technology and using MIPI M-PHY low-power architecture, providing the right balance of high performance and power efficiency to enable the all day computing needs of today's premium and AI mobile devices. The SM2756 achieves sequential read performance exceeding 4,300 MB/s and sequential write speeds of over 4,000 MB/s and supports the broadest range of 3D TLC and QLC NAND flash with densities of up to 2 TB.

As the IT sector continues to seek answers for scaling data processing performance while simultaneously improving efficiency - in terms of performance and density per watt, per system, per rack, and per dollar of CapEx and OpEx - ScaleFlux is answering the call with innovative design choices in its SSD controllers. The SFX 5016 promises to set new standards both for performance and for power efficiency.

In addition to carrying forward the transparent compression feature that ScaleFlux first released in 2020 in upgraded in 2022 with the SFX 3016 computational storage drive controller, the new SFX 5016 SOC processor includes a number of design advances.

According to TPU's SSD database, the Microsoft Z1000 M.2 22110 form factor solid-state drive launched back in 2020—last week, well-known hardware tipster, yuuki_ans, leaked a set of photos and specifications. Their March 7 social media post showcases close-ups of a potential enterprise product—sporting a CNEX Labs CNX-2670AA-CB2T controller, Toshiba BiCS4 96-layer eTLC NAND flash dies and 1 GB Micron MT40A1G8SA-075:E DDR4 RAM cache. The mysterious storage device appears to be an engineering sample (PV1.1)—an attached label lists a possible manufacturing date of May 18, 2020, but its part number and serial code are redacted in yuuki's set of photos. PCIe specifications are not disclosed, but experts reckon that a 4.0 standard is present here (given the prototype's age).

The long form factor and presence of a CNEX Labs controller suggest that Microsoft has readied a 960 GB capacity model for usage in data servers. Unoccupied spaces on the board provide evidence of different configurations. Extra BGA mounting points could introduce another DRAM chip, and there is enough room for additional capacitors—via solder pads on both sides of the Z1000's PCB. It is speculated that 2 TB and 4 TB variants exist alongside the leaked 960 GB example—a "broad portfolio" of finalized Z1000 products could be in service right now, but the wider public is unlikely to see these items outside of Microsoft facilities.

The third quarter of 2023 witnessed suppliers dramatically cutting production, which underpinned enterprise SSD prices. The fourth quarter saw a resurgence in contract prices, driven by robust buying activity and heightened demand from server brands and buoyed by optimistic capital expenditure forecasts for 2024. This, combined with increased demand from various end products entering their peak sales period and ongoing reductions in OEM NAND Flash inventories, resulted in some capacity shortages. Consequently, fourth-quarter enterprise SSD prices surged by over 15%. TrendForce highlights that this surge in demand and prices led to a 47.6% QoQ increase in enterprise SSD industry revenues in 4Q23, reaching approximately $23.1 billion.

The stage is set for continued fervor as we settle into the new year and momentum from server brand orders continues to heat up—particularly from Chinese clients. On the supply side, falling inventory levels and efforts to exit loss-making positions have prompted enterprise SSD prices to climb, with contract prices expected to increase by over 25%. This is anticipated to fuel a 20% revenue growth in Q1.

TrendForce reports a substantial 24.5% QoQ increase in NAND Flash industry revenue, hitting US$11.49 billion in 4Q23. This surge is attributed to a stabilization in end-demand spurred by year-end promotions, along with an expansion in component market orders driven by price chasing, leading to robust bit shipments compared to the same period last year. Additionally, the corporate sector's continued positive outlook for 2024 demand—compared to 2023—and strategic stockpiling have further fueled this growth.

Looking ahead to 1Q24, despite it traditionally being an off-season, the NAND Flash industry is expected to see a continued increase in revenue by another 20%. This anticipation is underpinned by significant improvements in supply chain inventory levels and ongoing price rises, with clients ramping up their orders to sidestep potential supply shortages and escalating costs. The ongoing expansion of order sizes is expected to drive NAND Flash contract prices up by an average of 25%.

Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that it has started sampling its 256-gigabyte (GB) SD Express microSD card with sequential read speed of up to 800 megabytes per second (MB/s) and has commenced mass production of its 1-terabyte (TB) UHS-1 microSD card. With the introduction of its next-generation microSD card line-up, Samsung aims to provide differentiated memory solutions required for tomorrow's mobile computing and on-device AI applications.

"With our two new microSD cards, Samsung has provided effective solutions to address the growing demands of mobile computing and on-device AI," said Hangu Sohn, Vice President of the Memory Brand Product Biz Team at Samsung Electronics. "Despite their tiny size, these memory cards deliver powerful SSD-like performance and capacity to help users get more out of demanding modern and future applications."

Micron Technology, Inc. announced today that it is delivering qualification samples of an enhanced version of its Universal Flash Storage (UFS) 4.0 mobile solution with breakthrough proprietary firmware features delivered in the world's most compact UFS package at 9x13 millimeters (mm). Built on its advanced 232-layer 3D NAND and offering up to 1 terabyte (TB) capacity, the UFS 4.0 solution provides best-in-class performance and end-to-end innovation, enabling faster and more responsive experiences on flagship smartphones.

Micron UFS 4.0 accelerates data-intensive experiences with up to 4300 megabytes per second (MBps) sequential read and 4000 MBps sequential write speed, twice the performance of previous generations. With these speeds, users will be able to launch their favorite productivity, creativity, and emerging AI apps more quickly. Large language models in generative AI applications can be loaded 40% faster, resulting in a smoother experience when initializing conversations with AI digital companions.