In 2017, 3D NAND technologies such as Samsung, Toshiba / Western Digital, Micron, SK Hynix, etc. are mainly upgraded to 64-layer / 72-level 3D NAND production and gradually increase the proportion of 3D NAND production and accelerate the transition from 2D NAND to 3D NAND . Among them, Samsung 64-layer 3D NAND has already been sent samples back in as early as 2016, and mass production of 256Gb and 512Gb at the Fab18 factory in Pyeongtaek that will start in June 2017 and will be used in its own SSD and UFS products. At the same time, it has been delivered to important customers.
Samsung will continuously raise the proportion of 64-layer 3D NAND output in 2017 and put the fifth generation of 96-layer QLC 3D NAND production in 2018, and the single die capacity will be increased to 1Tb. It is estimated that by the end of 2019, the proportion of 3D NAND output will increase to 90 %, and based on the higher storage density of the 96-layer QLC, Samsung can increase the SSD capacity to 128TB.
Toshiba announced in early 2017 64-layer 512Gb 3D NAND samples, volume production began in September, the first volume is 256Gb, Q4 production 512Gb. Toshiba not only introduced consumer and enterprise SSDs based on the 64-layer 3D NAND, but also upgraded its own UFS capacity to 256GB while delivering a variety of new SSDs to key customers. In addition, Toshiba has started to develop a 96-layer TLC 256Gb in 2017 and will begin production in Fab2, Fab5 and Fab6 plants in 2018 and will increase NAND Flash output based on a 96-layer QLC that will increase capacity to 512Gb.
Western Digital / SanDisk that based on the 64-layer 3D NAND production is 128Gb, 256Gb, 512Gb capacity, the second half of 2017 has launched a series of new SATA SSD, and meet the needs of the next generation of smart phones UFS products, capacity up to 256GB. Western Digital / SanDisk have already submitted 96-layer 3D NANDs by the end of the year. In 2018, they will mass-produce 256Gb and 512Gb at Fab6 with TLC and QLC. It is expected that the proportion of 3D NAND will be further increased by the end of 2018.
Micron's / Intel's main production volume in 2017 is 32-layer 3D NAND. In addition to its widespread use in consumer and enterprise SSD products, SSDs are also being offered to other SSD brands while continuously increasing 64-layer 3D NAND production, including The B16A (256Gb) is mass-produced in Q2 and is available to Apple, Q4 in volume production B17A (512Gb). In addition, Micron and Intel are actively promoting 3D XPoint capacity to meet the storage needs of big data, servers and other fields.
SK Hynix is mass-producing 48-layer 3D NAND, a small amount of 36-layer 3D NAND, and increasing 72-layer 3D NAND production, single die's 256Gb and 512Gb high storage has been gradually expanded in eMMC, UFS, SSD, etc. advantages in product application. In addition to the 48-layer 3D NAND supplied to Apple, SK Hynix also supplies enterprise customers such as Alibaba and Huawei with focus on cloud storage and monitoring. SK Hynix also plans to enter the 96-layer 3D NAND in 2018 and continue to expand 3D NAND output as well as expanding market applications. |