Memory

Mainstream low power mobile DRAM physical analysis and cost comparison.

The DRAM market remains volatile due to unbalanced supply and demand and difficulty in making a technological transition. DRAM revenue increased from $73billion in 2017 to $100 billion in 2018 due to high shipment growth and strong pricing. But in 2019 low pricing and low shipment volumes reduced DRAM manufacturer revenues in Q1 2019.

New era smartphones demand devices that have lower power consumption. Memory manufacturers are therefore challenged to produce devices with lower power consumption, smaller packages high performances and low cost.

As scaling progresses the complexity of creating DRAM capacitors drastically increases. As the technology process shrinks, it has to use the multiple patterning lithography technique. This increases manufacturing process cost.

We present a technological and economical comparison of common Low Power Mobile DRAM found in smart phones. These are 1y Samsung LPDDR4X, 1x Micron LPDDR4 and 1x SK Hynix LPDDR4.

Our analysis is based on full teardowns of the packages and LPDDR4 dies to unveil the technology and process employed by each manufacturer, the supply chain and the cost of the memory wafers, dies and the packages.

This report contains detailed die studies, die cross sections and processes involved in manufacturing. It details the physical analysis, highlighting the physical structures that include the memory capacitors and bit line. It matches the process description and physical structures with the applicable manufacturers’ patents. The report also includes the manufacturing cost analysis and estimation of the manufacturers’ gross margin.

Finally, the report features an exhaustive comparison of DRAM physical structures. It highlights the similarities and differences and their impact on the wafer and die cost.

Overview/Introduction

• Executive Summary
• Reverse Costing Methodology

Company Profile

• Samsung
• SK Hynix
• Micron

Technology and Market

• DRAM’s main players Roadmap
• DRAM’s main playersRevenue

Physical Analysis

• Samsung
  • Overview
  • Die design
  • Cross-section
  • Patents
• SK Hynix
  • Overview
  • Die design
  • Cross-section
  • Patents

• Micron
  • Overview
  • Die design
  • Cross-section
  • Patents

Manufacturing Process Flow

• Overview
• Wafer Fabrication Unit
• Front-End Process

Cost Analysis

• Overview of the cost analysis Yield
  • Yields explanations and hypotheses
  • DRAM wafer and die cost
  • Front-end cost
  • Component cost

Technology and Cost Analysis Comparison

Estimated Price and Gross Margin Analysis

• Samsung 16Gb LPDDR5 1z DRAM Memory
• 3D NAND Memory Comparison 2021
• Samsung 128-layer V-NAND Memory
• SK hynix 128-Layer NAND Memory
• Samsung LPDDR5 12GB Mobile Memory
• Samsung 3D V-NAND 92-Layer Memory
• Samsung 3D TSV – Stacked DDR4 DRAM
• High-End SSD Controller Comparison 2022
• Apple M1 Pro System-on-Chip
• Apple M1 Max System-on-Chip