Digitimes reports that Korean memory manufacturers Hynix and Samsung have both been hit by unstable yield rates for their 18 nm server DRAM production.

While the yields are claimed to be sufficient for notebook and desktop PC production, they are not good enough for server memory, which has higher quality requirements. Due to the shortage, Chinese enterprises like Alibaba, Huawei, Lenovo and Tencent are now switching to use 20 nanometer DRAM for their servers, which is in better supply. Other vendors have even requested that no more 18 nm chips are shipped by these Korean suppliers, in a bid to improve quality, which might take several months, but shouldn't have a significant impact on overall DRAM prices.

For enthusiastic gamers and modders, powerful gear is a must. And after winning over the professional gaming crowd, Apacer is bringing some colorful bling to DRAM. Since its last incarnation, PANTHER RAGE DDR4 has evolved from single-light LED to splashy RGB, with its bold new color in Gold. Apacer is going to show that the new gear is definitely worth the wait.

By implementing the newly developed hardware architecture to enhance the RGB controller, PANTHER RAGE DDR4 RGB has improved the performance by 200%. It also seamlessly integrates with the latest ASUS Aura Sync software which is popular among gamers, and allows users to select various patterns based on their preference. On top of that, it is compatible with the latest platform by Intel and AMD.

Intel's Optane products, based on the joint venture with Micron, have been hailed as the next step in memory technology - delivering, according to Intel's own pre-launch slides, a mid-tier, al-dente point between DRAM's performance and NAND's density and pricing. Intel even demoed their most avant-garde product in recent times (arguably, of course) - the 3D XPoint DIMM SSD. Essentially, a new storage contraption that would occupy vacant DIMM channels, delivering yet another tier of storage up for grabs for speed and space-hungry applications - accelerating workloads that would otherwise become constrained by the SATA or even NVMe protocol towards NAND drives.

Of course, that product was a way off; and that product still hasn't come to light. The marriage of Optane's density and speed with a users' DRAM subsystem is just wishful thinking at best, and the dreams of pairing DRAM and 3D Xpoint in the same memory subsystem and extracting the best of both worlds remains, well... A figment of the imagination. But not according to some retailers' websites, though. Apparently, the usage of Intel's Optane products as DRAM memory has already surfaced for some vendors - Dell and HP included. How strange, then, that this didn't come out with adequate pomp and circumstance.

GALAX unveiled its Hall of Fame (HOF) Extreme series limited edition DDR4 memory with a staggering speed rating of DDR4-5000. Featuring a gold-plated heatspreader, this 16 GB (8 GB x2) dual-channel kit ticks at DDR4-5000 with timings of 21-36-36-46, and at 1.50V. If that's a little too much to handle, there's also an identical-looking kit with DDR4-4700 speeds, with tighter timings of 19-26-26-46, at 1.50V.

There's also chrome/silver colored kit clocked at DDR4-4500, with 19-19-19-39 timings and 1.40V DRAM voltage, though it lacks the limited edition tag. Getting into the mid-range of this series, we find the HOF Extreme DDR4-3600 kit, with a similar design, but matte-white heatspreaders, 17-18-18-38 timings, and safer voltages of 1.35V. The gateway to this series is the HOF Extreme DDR4-3200, with 16-18-18-38 timings, at 1.35V, and a matte-black heatspreader.

While Corsair began as a memory maker and branched out into cases and power-supplies, Antec is taking the opposite route, starting out as a case and PSU maker. The company set up the new AntecMemory brand, complete with a new logo. Its first product is the mid-range "5-series," with the possibility of the entry-level 3-series, and high-end 7-series, for sheer driving computing pleasure. The 5-series DDR4 module features either an all-white or black+white heatspreader, with an RGB LED diffuser at a corner. For now, it only comes in 8 GB single-module kits. The module ticks at DDR4-3000, with timings of 16-18-18-36, at 1.35V. There's also an ASUS TUF Gaming Alliance co-branded kit, complete with the urban camo pattern.

In a bid to further extend their AORUS brand to other PC-critic components, Gigabyte is putting the finishing touches to another line of own-branded PC components - DDR4 memory modules. The new DDR4 modules, marketed under the company's gaming AORUS brand, feature a brushed aluminum heatspreader with AORUS' characteristic logo. Some artistic cutouts give the modules an aggressive look, and the top of the heatspreader houses an RGB diffuser that allows the modules to light up evenly. Gigabyte's tease is only that - a tease - and the company has said the final product will likely see the aluminum toned a few shades darker.

INNOVENTIONS, Inc., the leading manufacturer of portable computer memory testers, is now shipping the RAMCHECK LX DDR4 and the RAMCHECK LX DDR4 Pro for testing and identifying industry standard DDR4 ECC and non-ECC SDRAM modules.

"DDR4 memory is now the standard for servers and PCs," said Dr. David Y. Feinstein, President of INNOVENTIONS. "With these new RAMCHECK LX memory testers, data centers, memory dealers and repair techs have a great tool to test and identify DDR4 DIMMs quickly and reliably. Considering the price of these big server DIMMs, the RAMCHECK LX pays for itself pretty quickly."

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that it has started mass producing the industry's first 32-gigabyte (GB) double data rate 4 (DDR4) memory for gaming laptops in the widely used format of small outline dual in-line memory modules (SoDIMMs). The new SoDIMMs are based on 10-nanometer (nm)-class process technology that will allow users to enjoy enriched PC-grade computer games on the go, with significantly more capacity, higher speeds and lower energy consumption.

Using the new memory solution, PC manufacturers can build faster top-of-the-line gaming-oriented laptops with longer battery life at capacities exceeding conventional mobile workstations, while maintaining existing PC configurations. "Samsung's 32GB DDR4 DRAM modules will deliver gaming experiences on laptops more powerful and immersive than ever before," said Sewon Chun, senior vice president of memory marketing at Samsung Electronics. "We will continue to provide the most advanced DRAM portfolios with enhanced speed and capacity for all key market segments including premium laptops and desktops."

Law firm Hagens Berman has filed a class action lawsuit against Samsung, Micron, and Hynix in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. According to the firm's investigation, the three DRAM manufacturers conspired to limit the supply of DRAM chips between 2016 and 2017 with the purpose of inflating their prices. The firm affirmed that DRAM saw a 47 percent increase in price during 2017, which made it the largest jump ever in the last 30 years. As noted by the filing, Samsung, Micron and Hynix collectively own 96 percent of the worldwide DRAM market as of 2017. The "conduct changed abruptly" when the Chinese government launched an investigation to look into the matter. This class action is opened to consumers in the U.S. who've purchased a device that uses DRAM between July 1, 2016 and February 1, 2018.

"What we've uncovered in the DRAM market is a classic antitrust, price-fixing scheme in which a small number of kingpin corporations hold the lion's share of the market," stated Hagens Berman managing partner Steve Berman. "Instead of playing by the rules, Samsung, Micron and Hynix chose to put consumers in a chokehold, wringing the market for more profit."

Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that it has begun mass producing 10-nanometer (nm)-class 16-gigabit (Gb) LPDDR4X DRAM for automobiles. The latest LPDDR4X features high performance and energy efficiency while significantly raising the thermal endurance level for automotive applications that often need to operate in extreme environments. The 10nm-class DRAM will also enable the industry's fastest automotive DRAM-based LPDDR4X interface with the highest density.

"The 16Gb LPDDR4X DRAM is our most advanced automotive solution yet, offering global automakers outstanding reliability, endurance, speed, capacity and energy efficiency, ," said Sewon Chun, senior vice president of memory marketing at Samsung Electronics. "Samsung will continue to closely collaborate with manufacturers developing diverse automotive systems, in delivering premium memory solutions anywhere."

Ballistix, a leading global brand of gaming memory, today announced the availability of Ballistix Tactical Tracer RGB DDR4 memory. The new Tactical Tracer RGB modules, available in 8GB and 16GB densities with speeds up to 3000 MT/s, allow gamers to light up their systems with 16 RGB LEDs in 8 zones on each module. PC modders can customise their system's look by removing the Ballistix-labeled light bar for maximum brightness, or 3D printing their own light bar to truly leave their mark on their memory.

"A lot of the members in our community love to personalise their gaming rigs and the new Tactical Tracer RGB DDR4 modules help achieve just the style they are looking for," said Jim Jardine, Director of DRAM Product Marketing. "Having an RGB module with a removable light bar that enables you to custom-make your own system gives system builders the best options for customisation and personalisation."

Marvell, a leader in storage, networking and connectivity semiconductor solutions, today announced that it is launching innovative NVM Express (NVMe)-based chipset solutions that will accelerate the time to market for application-optimized data center SSD implementations. These new, highly-versatile building blocks can optimally address current and emerging workload storage requirements, spanning capacity, latency, performance, power and cost, to enable tailored SSD solutions for specific cloud and enterprise workloads.

The proliferation of cloud services and new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, is driving various workloads in the data center. These evolving and expanding workloads can have differing storage requirements that emerging SSD form factors are targeted to address. Marvell has developed innovative NVMe chipsets capable of powering the larger Enterprise Data Storage Form Factors (EDSFF), Next Generation Small Form Factors (NGSFF) and various customized form factors, providing the ability to increase storage capacity, performance and overall workload efficiencies.

ADATA Technology Co., Ltd., a leading manufacturer of high performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash products, is excited to announce the first participation at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018,the world's largest gathering for the mobile industry. ADATA and XPG are together presenting a total mobile gaming solution that provides mobility, functionality, and convenience in order to fulfill of growing number of mobile users' needs. ADATA brings the latest three high density battery cellpower bank models that provide a lightweight and versatile choice of colors and capacities. For XPG, EMIX I30 features patented design driven by 5.2 channel surround sound with a rich and detailed sound quality. By bringing these two devices together into a small, tidy package offers an immediate convenience for mobile gamers.

Nowadays, end users have continued to be fascinated and amazed by rapidly evolving mobile technology. Mobile gaming is one of the few segments that have swiftly grown at an immense pace and with a rise in demand. XPG places an emphasis on delivering rich and detailed sound quality. The 5.2 channel EMIX I30 has established an inner vacuum tube technology that creates true 3D surround sound. It also employs oversized 13.5 mm units made of durable yet reactive monomer materials. EMIX I30 works instantly with a majority of electronic devices.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that it has begun mass producing the industry's largest capacity Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) solid state drive (SSD) - the PM1643 - for use in next-generation enterprise storage systems. Leveraging Samsung's latest V-NAND technology with 64-layer, 3-bit 512-gigabit (Gb) chips, the 30.72 terabyte (TB) drive delivers twice the capacity and performance of the previous 15.36 TB high-capacity lineup introduced in March 2016.

This breakthrough was made possible by combining 32 of the new 1TB NAND flash packages, each comprised of 16 stacked layers of 512 Gb V-NAND chips. These super-dense 1 TB packages allow for approximately 5,700 5-gigabyte (GB), full HD movie files to be stored within a mere 2.5-inch storage device.

PC hardware enthusiasts all over (but particularly in our own forums) have been adamant in how this is one of the worst times to be building a new system. And it's true; the DIY market is a mess right now, as our own btarunr mentioned in his latest editorial; so much so, that in a full reversal of years and years of experience, users might now actually be better served in the $/performance department by buying their systems from boutique retailers, than by acquiring all of the parts separately. It's a mad, mad world out there, for a multitude of reasons; but one such reason is DRAM pricing. And fortunately, it seems that China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) is on the verge of signing a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) with Samsung that might help the DRAM market as a whole.

SK Hynix, the other Korean DRAM and NAND flash giant than Samsung, updated its DRAM product catalog to reflect immediate availability of its 8-gigabit (1 GB) GDDR6 memory chips. The company is selling four SKUs, part "H56C8H24MJR-S2C" in 14 Gbps and 12 Gbps variants; and part "H56C8H24MJR-S0C" in 12 Gbps and 10 Gbps variants. The -S2C chips are more energy efficient, in achieving 14 Gbps at 1.35V and 12 Gbps at 1.25V; while the -S0C achieves 12 Gbps at 1.35V, and 10 Gbps at 1.25V. Unless NVIDIA decides that the GTX 1080-successor should feature 16 GB of memory, the company could be in the market for 8 Gb GDDR6 chips.

Meanwhile, rival Samsung announced that it began mass-production of 16 Gb (2 GB) GDDR6 memory chips, which should enable 16 GB of memory across a 256-bit memory interface, or 8 GB over a 128-bit interface. Samsung's latest chips not only have double the density as SK Hynix's, but also tick faster, at 18 Gbps, with a voltage of 1.35V. It is widely expected that GDDR6 will be the dominant memory standard for entry, mainstream, and even high-end graphics cards, which launch through 2018-19. NVIDIA is expected this year to launch its new "Volta" graphics architecture across various consumer-graphics market-segments.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that it has started mass production of the industry's first 16-gigabit (Gb) Graphics Double Data Rate 6 (GDDR6) memory for use in advanced graphics processing for gaming devices and graphics cards as well as automotive, network and artificial intelligence systems.

"Beginning with this early production of the industry's first 16 Gb GDDR6, we will offer a comprehensive graphics DRAM line-up, with the highest performance and densities, in a very timely manner," said Jinman Han, senior vice president, Memory Product Planning & Application Engineering at Samsung Electronics. "By introducing next-generation GDDR6 products, we will strengthen our presence in the gaming and graphics card markets and accommodate the growing need for advanced graphics memory in automotive and network systems."

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that it has started mass production of its 2nd-generation 8-gigabyte (GB) High Bandwidth Memory-2 (HBM2) with the fastest data transmission speed on the market today. The new solution, Aquabolt, which is the industry's first HBM2 to deliver a 2.4 gigabits-per-second (Gbps) data transfer speed per pin, should accelerate the expansion of supercomputing and the graphics card market.

"With our production of the first 2.4 Gbps 8 GB HBM2, we are further strengthening our technology leadership and market competitiveness," said Jaesoo Han, executive vice president, Memory Sales & Marketing team at Samsung Electronics. "We will continue to reinforce our command of the DRAM market by assuring a stable supply of HBM2 worldwide, in accordance with the timing of anticipated next-generation system launches by our customers."

It's been a couple years now that we've seen continuously increasing pricing of DRAM and NAND semiconductors. The price increase, which has been hailed and documented over, over, andover again (and there are way more articles on this subject here on TPU), follows reported increased demand which has failed to be accompanied by its respective manufacturing and supply ability.

However, reports that companies were planning on increasing production of DRAM and NAND below the expected increases in supply demand may have turned at least some regulatory eyes towards the issue. China's National Development and Reform Commission's Pricing Supervision Department (NDRC) said they are aware of the situation, how it could point towards price-fixing from the four major NAND production players (Samsung, Hynix, Micron and Toshiba), and are looking into the matter. "We have noticed the price surge and will pay more attention to future problems that may be caused by 'price fixing' in the sector," the official Xu Xinyu was quoted as saying in an interview to Chinese newspaper Daily China.

ADATA Technology Co., Ltd., a leading manufacturer of high-performance DRAM computer memory modules and NAND Flash products is excited to declare that the 2015 Taiwan Excellence Gold Award winner, XPG Z1 DDR4 overclocking memory, is designed to be the ultimate upgrade for overclockers, enthusiasts, and gamers.

At CES 2018, ADATA will unleash the new XPGZ1 DDR4 16GB 4600MHz CL 19-26-26-46 1.5V (AX4U460038G19-DRZ), a new force designed for Intel Z370/X299 chipset motherboards. The XPGZ1 DDR4 4600MHz Kits features timings of CL 19-26-26-46 16GB at 1.5V and is built to achieve both stability and high performance. XPG Z1 DDR4 4600MHz Kits are ready for action with the MSI Z370I GAMING PRO CARBON AC at CES 2018 and will be available in Q1, 2018. MSRP for dual pack (8GB x 2) will be $579.

It was a banner year for graphics, both in terms of market strength and technology advancements. Gaming, virtual reality, crypto mining, and artificial intelligence fueled demand for GPUs in 2017. The market responded with a wide array of products: high-performance discrete PC graphics cards that let gamers run multiple 4K displays; game consoles and VR headsets; and workstation-class GPUs that can build the stunning effects we have all come to expect. And since these products are full of our GDDR5 or G5X memory, it was an exciting year for Micron's graphics team too. We had a record-breaking year in GDDR5 shipments and further solidified Micron's industry leadership in graphics memory with the launch of our 12 Gb/s G5X, the highest-performance mass production GDDR memory.

Throughout 2017, DRAM manufacturers faced pressure to boost output of their devices-particularly high-performance DRAM used in data center servers, and low-power high-density DRAM used in smartphones and other mobile products. Strong, ongoing demand put significant upward pressure on DRAM average selling prices. This trend continued into 4Q17 and is expected to drive quarterly DRAM sales to an all time high mark of $21.1 billion (Figure 1), capping an incredible year of growth in which DRAM sales set a new all time high sales mark each quarter. The forecast $21.1 billion sales level in 4Q17 would be an increase of 65% compared to the $12.8 billion DRAM market of 4Q16.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, announced today that it has begun mass producing the industry's first 2nd-generation of 10-nanometer class (1y-nm), 8-gigabit (Gb) DDR4 DRAM. For use in a wide range of next-generation computing systems, the new 8 Gb DDR4 features the highest performance and energy efficiency for an 8 Gb DRAM chip, as well as the smallest dimensions.

"By developing innovative technologies in DRAM circuit design and process, we have broken through what has been a major barrier for DRAM scalability," said Gyoyoung Jin, president of Memory Business at Samsung Electronics. "Through a rapid ramp-up of the 2nd-generation 10 nm-class DRAM, we will expand our overall 10 nm-class DRAM production more aggressively, in order to accommodate strong market demand and continue to strengthen our business competitiveness."

Intel has reportedly slated launch of its Optane DIMM for the second half of 2018. The Optane DIMM marks the biggest change in computer memory in over two decades, and heralds the era of "persistent memory," which combines the best characteristics of DRAM and NAND flash, in that it has the speed and low-latency of DRAM, but the persistence (ability to store data in the absence of power) of NAND flash. Combining the two will be made possible with improvements to the speed and latency of 3D XPoint memory. Intel is currently selling consumer SSDs based on the technology, and has increased production of 3D XPoint chips.

Intel presented the Optane DIMM at the 2017 USB Global Technology Conference. It described Optane DIMM as a primary storage device that will function as a memory-mapped device, but with much higher storage densities than what's possible with current DDR4 DRAM. The enterprise segment, as usual, will have the first take of the technology, with Intel targeting the exascale computing (supercomputers nearing ExaFLOP/s compute throughput) industry, trickling down to other enterprise segments, before finally making its way to the client/consumer segments. This development is also a polite nudge to the DRAM industry to get its act together, and either bring down prices or scale up densities, or miss the bus of change.

Silicon wafers are definitely the best kind of wafers for us tech enthusiasts, but as we all know, required financial resources for the development and production of these is among the most intensive in development costs and R&D. It's not just about the cost of employing enough (and crucially, good enough) engineers that can employ the right tools and knowledge to design the processing miracles that are etched onto wafers; there's also the cost of good, old production as well. Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography Systems that are used for the production of silicon wafers are about the size of a city bus, and typically cost more than 100 million euros ($115.3 million) each. ASML, a Dutch company that specializes in this kind of equipment, announced this year it was expecting to see a 25% revenue growth for 2017. Increased demand for these systems - and added cost of development of ever increasingly small and complex etchings in wafers - means this sector is seeing strong growth. But where there is strong growth, there is usually high demand, and high demand means higher strain on supply, which may sometimes not be able to keep up with the market's needs.

This is seemingly the case for wafer pricing; as demand for wafer production has been increasing, so to are prices. Faced with increased demand, companies are usually faced with a tough question to answer in regards to the correct course of action. Usually, it goes like this: higher demand at the same supply level means higher pricing. However, if supply isn't enough to satisfy demand, manufacturers are losing out on potential increased sales. This leads most companies to increase supply relative to demand, but always with lower projected output than demand requires, so they can bask in both increased ASP (Average Sale Price) and higher number of sales. This has been the case with DRAM memory production for some time now: and is happening with 300 mm silicon wafers as well.