News

posted on 27 May 2008 10:03

The main flash vendors are all moving to sub-50nm processes but Intel-Micron is going further to a sub-40nm process. It hopes to get more flash chips from a wafer and so drive down costs.

The Intel-Micron NAND flash joint venture is moving from a 50nm process to a 38nm process and hopes to start volume production in Q3 of this year. It is leap-frogging other vendors' efforts to shrink their process size.

Also starting volume production in Q3 is Hynix which is moving from a 60nm process to a 48nm one.

Samsung is moving from a 51nm process to a 42nm one with a Q3 production date. SanDisk and Toshiba's joint venture is ahead time-wise with its 56nm to 43nm shrink destined to start production in Q2.

It looks as if Hynix will be behind on wafer yield with its 48nm process, Samsung and SanDisk-Toshiba approximately equal with 42 and 43nm respectively, and Intel-Micron out in front with its 35nm process target.

More at Digitimes.

^{[Paul Roberts, news editor.]}