NAND Flash - The Memory Guy Blog

What is 3D NAND? Why do we need it? How do they make it?

Back in 2013, when Samsung announced its V-NAND, the first production 3D NAND, The Memory Guy blog carried a series of posts to explain the new technology and the reason it was so necessary.

Now that the inventors of this technology have been honored with the FMS Lifetime Achievement Award, I decided that it was time to refresh that series of blog posts. Once a week for the next nine weeks I will be reissuing a post in this series. I hope that these will Continue reading “What is 3D NAND? Why do we need it? How do they make it?”

3D NAND Team to Receive FMS Lifetime Achievement Award

FMS (formerly the Flash Memory Summit) announced on July 24 that a research team from Kioxia will receive the award for inventing 3D NAND flash at FMS: the Future of Memory and Storage, on August 6 in Santa Clara, California. We hope to see you there as the award is being presented to a member of that team.

The team has five Continue reading “3D NAND Team to Receive FMS Lifetime Achievement Award”

Remembering Simon Sze

I was saddened to hear last week of the death this month of Simon Sze, the co-inventor of the floating gate, which was the basis of EPROM, E²PROM, and nearly all flash memory prior to the advent of 3D NAND, which uses a charge trap instead.

Dr. Sze was not only responsible for the floating gate, but he was a pioneer in Continue reading “Remembering Simon Sze”

Is the Memory Business Turning Around?

The memory business is giving indications of improved health, and The Memory Guy thought that it might be a good idea to share some insights normally reserved for Objective Analysis’ paying clients.

Let’s have a look at what we know so far.

DRAM and NAND flash spot prices are slightly Continue reading “Is the Memory Business Turning Around?”

Where Are We in the Memory Cycle?

My regular clients who get quarterly in-person market updates and those readers who have attended my annual Flash Market Update session at the Flash Memory Summit have often been told how Objective Analysis models the memory market based on supply/demand dynamics and the fact that memory chip prices tend to follow a very predictable pattern. In this post The Memory Guy blog will explain that Continue reading “Where Are We in the Memory Cycle?”

Micron Closed Out of Some China Markets

On May 21 a government agency in China issued a ruling to prevent Micron Technology products from being used in systems that handle critical information. This is the outcome of an investigation that the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) opened in March, accusing the company of cybersecurity crimes.

This Memory Guy blog post examines the impact of Continue reading “Micron Closed Out of Some China Markets”

Memory Market Down, but a Turnaround is Coming

[Post updated 14 Feb. with Kioxia data, a margin chart, and to correct an error.]

The quarterly results of most memory companies have been reported, and revenues, gigabyte shipments, and prices are all down. Most of the profits have been taken out of the business.

This is not an unusual situation for Continue reading “Memory Market Down, but a Turnaround is Coming”

Today’s “Unprecedented” Collapses

Starting with Micron’s most recent earnings call The Memory Guy has been hearing memory executives and others use the word “Unprecedented” to describe today’s market collapse. Perhaps the strangest of these was an article in the Storage Newsletter that said that the current situation was “Unprecedented since 2008.” Given that “Unprecedented” means that nothing like this has ever happened before, that’s a pretty strange thing to say.

Being a numbers guy, I decided to see just how Continue reading “Today’s “Unprecedented” Collapses”

NAND Memories Before Flash?

I wasn’t aware of any NAND memories prior to NAND flash, but recently learned that the idea wasn’t new, and other developments that enabled NAND flash were also developed before NAND flash memory was invented.

Although these ideas never reached commercial success the way that Continue reading “NAND Memories Before Flash?”

Kioxia Announces Another 30% NAND Production Cut

On Friday 30 September 2022 Kioxia announced a 30% NAND flash wafer production cut in response to worsening market conditions. Kioxia’s manufacturing partner, Western Digital (WDC), decided not to comment on the Kioxia announcement.

If Kioxia’s announcement sounds familiar to you that’s because the company made the exact same Continue reading “Kioxia Announces Another 30% NAND Production Cut”