Micron Technology, Inc., today announced the availability of Crucial LPCAMM2, the disruptive next-generation laptop memory form factor that features LPDDR5X mobile memory to level up laptop performance for professionals and creators. Consuming up to 58% less active power and with a 64% space savings compared to DDR5 SODIMMs, LPCAMM2 delivers higher bandwidth and dual-channel support with a single module. LPCAMM2 is an ideal high-performance memory solution for handling AI PC and complex workloads and is compatible with the powerful and versatile Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 mobile workstations.

"LPCAMM2 is a game-changer for mobile workstation users who want to enjoy the benefits of the latest mobile high performance memory technology without sacrificing superior performance, upgradeability, power efficiency or space," said Jonathan Weech, senior director of product marketing for Micron's Commercial Products Group. "With LPCAMM2, we are delivering a future-proof memory solution, enabling faster speeds and longer battery life to support demanding creative and AI workloads."

SK hynix showcased its next-generation technologies and strengthened key partnerships at the TSMC 2024 Technology Symposium held in Santa Clara, California on April 24. At the event, the company displayed its industry-leading HBM AI memory solutions and highlighted its collaboration with TSMC involving the host's CoWoS advanced packaging technology.

TSMC, a global semiconductor foundry, invites its major partners to this annual conference in the first half of each year so they can share their new products and technologies. Attending the event under the slogan "Memory, the Power of AI," SK hynix received significant attention for presenting the industry's most powerful AI memory solution, HBM3E. The product has recently demonstrated industry-leading performance, achieving input/output (I/O) transfer speed of up to 10 gigabits per second (Gbps) in an AI system during a performance validation evaluation.

Today, Lenovo launched its latest mobile workstation offerings meticulously crafted to deliver the exceptional power and performance essential for handling complex workloads. Lenovo's ThinkPad P1 Gen 7, P16v i Gen 2, P16s i Gen 3, and P14s i Gen 5, with their cutting-edge AI technologies, are set to transform the way professionals engage with AI workflows. By collaborating with industry partners, Intel, NVIDIA, and Micron, Lenovo has introduced powerful and performance-packed AI PCs that meet the demands of modern-day AI-intensive tasks. The inclusion of the Intel Core Ultra processors with their integrated neural processing unit (NPU) and NVIDIA RTX Ada Generation GPUs signifies a major advancement in AI technology, boosting overall performance and productivity capabilities.

The latest ThinkPad P series mobile workstations powered by Intel Core Ultra processors and NVIDIA RTX Ada Generation GPUs deliver flexible, high-performance, and energy-efficient AI-ready PCs. The integrated NPU is dedicated to handling light, continuous AI tasks, while the NVIDIA GPU runs more demanding day-to-day AI processing. This combination enables smooth and reliable functioning of AI technologies, serving professionals engaged in diverse tasks ranging from 3D modeling and scene development to AI inferencing and training.

SK hynix Inc. announced today that it recorded an operating profit of 346 billion won in the fourth quarter of last year amid a recovery of the memory chip market, marking the first quarter of profit following four straight quarters of losses. The company posted revenues of 11.31 trillion won, operating profit of 346 billion won (operating profit margin at 3%), and net loss of 1.38 trillion won (net profit margin at negative 12%) for the three months ended December 31, 2023. (Based on K-IFRS)

SK hynix said that the overall memory market conditions improved in the last quarter of 2023 with demand for AI server and mobile applications increasing and average selling price (ASP) rising. "We recorded the first quarterly profit in a year following efforts to focus on profitability," it said. The financial results of the last quarter helped narrow the operating loss for the entire year to 7.73 trillion won (operating profit margin at negative 24%) and net loss to 9.14 trillion won (with net profit margin at negative 28%). The revenues were 32.77 trillion won.

Crucial, the client-focused brand of memory giant Micron Technology, showed off a handful new innovations at its booth along the sidelines of the 2024 International CES. First up, is a prototype USB4 portable SSD and prototype desktop SSD. These are proofs of concept, and not actual products. With this, Crucial is testing the waters with USB4 and its delicious 40 Gbps bidirectional bandwidth, which unlocks a new generation of fast removable storage devices. The prototype USB4 portable SSD comes in a tiny chassis about the size of a burner phone. It is a PCB with an M.2-2280 slot with PCIe Gen 4 x4 wiring, connected to an ASMedia ASM2464PD USB4 bridge chip. An OEM Micron Gen 4 SSD with 232-layer 3D TLC NAND flash and LPDDR4 DRAM cache, is installed on this drive. The CDM reading for this drive is 3821 MB/s sequential reads, with 885 MB/s sequential writes.

Next up, is a larger desktop SSD prototype (which again, isn't an actual product but a proof of concept). Its metal chassis is about the size of a 3.5-inch HDD. Inside is at least one M.2-2280 Gen 4 slot (there are probably more); with a preinstalled drive. An ASMedia ASM2464PD handles things here, too. The performance is mostly similar, at 3792 MB/s sequential reads, but with significantly increase 3803 MB/s sequential writes. This may seem unspectacular because Thunderbolt 4 has been delivering 40 Gbps for many years now, and we've had TB4-based external SSDs; but USB4 somewhat democratizes this kind of bandwidth.

Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU), today unveiled the industry's first standard low-power compression attached memory module (LPCAMM2) available in capacities from 16 GB to 64 GB, which delivers higher performance, energy-efficiency, space savings and modularity for PCs. Sampling now with production in the first half of 2024, LPCAMM2 is the first disruptive new form factor for client PCs since the introduction of small outline dual inline memory modules (SODIMMs) in 1997. Micron's LPDDR5X DRAM incorporated into the innovative LPCAMM2 form factor will provide up to 61% lower power and up to 71% better performance for PCMark 10 essential workloads such as web browsing and video conferencing, along with a 64% space savings over SODIMM offerings.

As generative artificial intelligence (GAI) use cases proliferate to client PCs, performance of the memory subsystem becomes more critical. LPCAMM2 delivers the required performance to process AI workloads on PCs and provide the potential to scale to applications needing a high performance and low power solution in a compact and modular form factor, with the ability to upgrade low power DRAM for the first time, as customer needs evolve.