Micron Announces Innovations Across Data Center, Intelligent Vehicles & Consumer Devices

Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU), revealed memory and storage innovations across its portfolio based on its industry-leading 176layer NAND and 1α (1-alpha) DRAM technology, as well as the industry’s first Universal Flash Storage (UFS) 3.1 solution for automotive applications. The new portfolio additions deliver on the company’s vision for the future of computing by enabling new device experiences and innovation from the data center to the intelligent edge. The announcements were delivered by Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra, who in his Computex keynote address shared a sweeping vision for computing innovation and the central role memory and storage play in enabling enterprises to seize the full potential of the data economy.

Micron announced availability of a new portfolio of PCIe Gen4 solid state drives (SSDs) built with the world’s first 176-layer NAND. The company is also now shipping the world’s first LPDDR4x on 1α node. Together, these latest releases reinforce Micron’s strong leadership position in both DRAM and NAND, established this year.

“As artificial intelligence and 5G reach mainstream deployment, they are creating dramatic new potential for data in the post-pandemic world,” said Mehrotra. “This transformation presents an opening for technology innovation to create infrastructure and platform differentiation. Today we are debuting bold new solutions that will accelerate innovation from powerful data center servers to faster client devices to intelligent vehicles at the edge.”

Micron PCIe Gen4 SSD portfolio features 176-layer NAND to tackle demanding client applications

The company’s latest SSDs, the Micron 3400 and 2450, provide a powerful combination of the PCIe Gen4 interface and the world’s most advanced NAND technology. This new SSD portfolio delivers high performance and design flexibility with low power consumption to enable all-day use and responsive applications across the client market – from professional workstations to ultra-thin notebooks. The PCIe Gen4 SSD portfolio is the first Micron-branded product line to incorporate the company’s industry-leading 176-layer technology.

For customers demanding industry-leading performance, the Micron 3400 SSD unleashes demanding applications with 2x the read throughput and up to 85% higher write throughput[1]. With capacities up to 2TB, the Micron 3400 provides storage space and performance to drive applications like real-time 3D rendering, computer-aided design, gaming and animation. For customers seeking the best value with Gen4 performance, the Micron 2450 SSD delivers a highly responsive user experience for everyday use. The SSD is available in three different form factors, as small as 22x30mm M.2, to deliver immense design flexibility.

Across Micron’s new client SSD portfolio, power consumption is significantly improved, allowing users to work longer wherever they are on a single battery charge.

Micron ships world’s first LPDDR4x and DDR4 on 1-alpha node across diverse markets

Micron is shipping in volume both client and mobile LPDDR4x on its leading 1-alpha node, following quickly on the heels of its announcement of volume shipments of 1α node DRAM products in January 2021. Both are in volume production in Micron’s advanced DRAM fabs in Taiwan, including its newly established A3 facility in Taichung.

This swift market momentum for Micron’s 1α-based memory provides advanced DRAM technology to power innovation for data-centric workloads on server platforms to consumers’ thin notebooks. Amid rising remote work and schooling trends, Micron has collaborated closely with the global personal computing ecosystem to provide this latest memory technology as the demand for more PCs has soared – equipping OEMS to rapidly react to the swelling market.

The 1α node process provides a 40% improvement in memory density and an up to 20% improvement in power savings when compared to previous 1z node LPDDR4X.  This power savings is ideal for mobile phones which must preserve battery, particularly when it comes to memory-intensive use cases, like capturing photos and video.

Ruggedized automotive storage engineered to handle data-intensive automotive systems

Bringing innovation to the intelligent edge, Micron announced that it is sampling both the 128 GB and 256 GB densities of its 96-layer NAND as part of the company’s new portfolio of the industry’s first UFS 3.1 managed NAND products for automotive applications. With infotainment systems evolving to include high-resolution displays and human-machine interface capabilities based on artificial intelligence (AI) — including voice, gesture, and image recognition — Micron’s UFS 3.1 portfolio provides much-needed high-throughput and low-latency storage.

Micron UFS 3.1 offers two times faster read performance than UFS 2.1, enabling fast boot times and minimizing latency for data-intensive in-vehicle infotainment and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). UFS 3.1 also provides 50% faster sustained write performance to keep pace with real-time local storage needs of growing sensor and camera data for Level 3+ ADAS systems and black box applications[2]. The solutions are ruggedized for extreme automotive temperatures and compliant with industry quality standards.

Market research and strategy consulting firm Yole Développement (Yole) projects the market for NAND in automotive to grow to $3.6 billion in 2025, nearly quadrupling from $0.9 billion in 2020[3]. As vehicles become more software-centric, these new centers of data require high performance storage to make large volumes of information readily available for near-instant processing. ADAS-enabled vehicles now contain over 100 million lines of code, which must be stored and quickly read for snappier user experiences and quick decision-making at the edge.

Micron speeds market adoption of DDR5 with Technology Enablement Program

Micron has also made significant momentum in its Technology Enablement Program (TEP) for DDR5. The program has engaged more than 250 design and technical leaders from over 100 companies, including system and silicon enablers, channel partners, cloud service providers and OEMs. As a lead developer of DDR5 specifications, Micron launched DDR5 TEP in July 2020 to prepare the ecosystem for DDR5 platform integration and to speed market adoption. Through TEP, Micron has provided early access to technical information and support, electrical and thermal models, and DDR5 sample products to aid in industry design, development, and growth of computing platforms.

About Micron Technology, Inc.

We are an industry leader in innovative memory and storage solutions transforming how the world uses information to enrich life for all. With a relentless focus on our customers, technology leadership, and manufacturing and operational excellence, Micron delivers a rich portfolio of high-performance DRAM, NAND and NOR memory and storage products through our Micron® and Crucial® brands. Every day, the innovations that our people create fuel the data economy, enabling advances in artificial intelligence and 5G applications that unleash opportunities — from the data center to the intelligent edge and across the client and mobile user experience. To learn more about Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU), visit micron.com.