Direct RDRAM makers bombarding market -- Sales expected to cap $13.5 billion by 2000, according to Samsung
Nov. 13, 1998 (Electronic Buyers News - CMP via COMTEX) -- Silicon
Valley- The Direct Rambus DRAM manufacturing machine is heaving into
action with a horde of product introductions as chip and module
suppliers prepare to meet anticipated demand for the next-generation
memory architecture.
Claiming an advantage in density, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has
launched a 144-Mbit Direct RDRAM chip with error-correction coding that
it will support with a 144-Mbyte Rambus In-Line Memory Module (RIMM).
Doubling the capacity of the 72-Mbit Direct RDRAM that it rolled out
in July, Samsung said the device will quickly replace lower-density
parts and enjoy market dominance well into 2000.
"The 144-Mbit density is critical to getting market acceptance," said
Avo Kanadjian, vice president of memory marketing for Samsung
Semiconductor Inc., San Jose. "It will be at price parity with the
64-Mbit version [of Direct RDRAM] by the middle of 1999."
By the third quarter of next year, Samsung will have ramped output to
one million 128- and 144-Mbit DRAM chips per month, including both
Direct RDRAM and PC-100 versions. That number will increase to 3
million devices per month in the fourth quarter, Kanadjian said.
In all, Samsung expects the total available market for 128- and
144-Mbit DRAM to reach 60 million units in 1999. By itself, Direct
RDRAM will account for global sales of $2.6 billion next year and reach
$13.5 billion in 2000, according to the company.
Samsung's 144-Mbit Direct RDRAM chips are made on a 0.23-micron
process technology and can process data at up to 1.6 Gbytes/s.
Additionally, Samsung's 144-MByte RIMM can be expanded to 288 MBytes
when both sides of the printed-circuit board are bonded.
While Samsung is making inroads on the density front, Siemens
Semiconductors claims to have the industry's smallest Direct RDRAM
device, a 64/72-Mbit chip that measures just 58 sq. mm. The chips,
which are manufactured in a 0.2-micron process technology, were rolled
out last week and are slated for volume production in mid-1999.
"With our 0.2-micron process, Siemens is using the most advanced
technology and offering the smallest 64/72-Mbit die of any Direct RDRAM
silicon known today," said Andreas von Zitzewitz, president of the
Cupertino, Calif.-based memory division of Siemens.
In a related development, Smart Modular Technologies Inc., Fremont,
Calif., has unveiled RIMMs in 32-, 64, and 128-Mbyte densities based on
64-Mbit Direct RDRAM. Smart Modular will begin limited production of
the RIMMs in the first quarter, according to Bill Johnston, the
company's vice president of marketing.
The module effort required a great deal of behind-the-scenes
preparation, including development of micro-BGA handling technology and
test software and hardware that featured advanced X-ray equipment to
check solder connections. The RIMM design process also demanded
significant engineering expertise to move PCB layout from a digital
technique to transmission line theory to adjust for higher operating
frequencies, Johnston said.
Even as Smart Modular ramps production, the rest of the module market
is moving swiftly to embrace the emerging Rambus technology. The
copmpany's competitor, Kingston Technology Inc., for instance, is
readying RIMM production with partner Toshiba America Electronic
Components Inc.
Under an agreement disclosed last week, Fountain Valley, Calif.-based
Kingston said it is working with Toshiba to manufacture RIMMs and the
dummy, or so-called Continuity, modules that are required to fill
vacant Direct RDRAM memory slots.
Under the agreement, Kingston will provide Irvine, Calif.-based
Toshiba with global manufacturing, testing, and order-fulfillment
services from production centers in California; Hsinchu, Taiwan; and
Dublin, Ireland. Toshiba will manufacture the Direct RDRAM die at its
production plant in Yokkaichi, Japan.
The team already has at least one customer to its credit, announcing
that RIMM shipments were sent to Dell Computer Corp. last month.
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