今年3月中國武岳峰資本宣布以6.4億美元併購在美國上市的芯成半導體後，中國政府正式向全世界宣布要進軍半導體領域。TrendForce旗下記憶體儲存事業處DRAMeXchange統計顯示，2014年中 國市場的DRAM消化量金額為102億美金，佔全球營業額約20%，其龐大內需就足以撐起中國DRAM產業的發展，而美國芯成半導體的整併，只是中國DRAM產業的開端。
DRAMeXchange表示，目前有六個地方政府積極爭取設立DRAM廠，而中國中央政府將會選出其中一個地方政府設廠，整合上游廠商發展出具中國自有的技術並綁定中、下游的產業結構成為一條龍的供應鏈，群聚效應下工廠將不易出走，加上中國自身的龐大市場與經濟規模，維持中國半導體產業成長的永續動能。
英特爾(Intel)與美光(Micron)日前聯合開發全新3D NAND技術，其儲存密度可比其他NAND技術高三倍，為目前世界上最高密度的快閃記憶體。這項新的3D NAND技術以極為精準的方式垂直堆疊數層資料儲存單元，可打造比其他NAND競爭技術容量多三倍的儲存元件，在更小空間內實現更高儲存容量，進而降低成本與功耗。
美光記憶體技術與解決方案部門副總裁Brian Shirley表示，透過美光與英特爾的合作，雙方共同打造出先進的固態儲存技術，能提供相較於其他快閃記憶體技術更高密度、性能與效率。這項新的技術足以改變整個快閃記憶體市場的格局。快閃記憶體是目前在筆記型電腦、資料中心，以及許多手機、平板電腦和行動裝置中經常被使用到的儲存技術。不過，現今的平面式(Planar)NAND快閃記憶體已接近擴展的極限，為記憶體產業帶來嚴峻的考驗；而3D NAND技術將對快閃記憶體儲存方案帶來重大影響，並使其繼續遵循摩爾定律(Moore's Law)腳步，同時不斷提升效能與降低成本，從而擴大應用範圍。
外電報導，中國大陸有意跨足記憶體領域，由當地面板龍頭京東方（BOE）打頭陣切入記憶體製造，同時上海、北京、合肥、武漢等至少六個地方政府積極爭取設立DRAM廠，將整合上游廠商發展出具中國自有的技術，並綁定中、下游的產業成為一條龍的供應鏈。
今年3月中國武岳峰資本宣佈以6.4億美元併購在美國上市的芯成半導體後，中國政府正式向全世界宣佈進軍半導體領域。TrendForce旗下記憶體儲存事業處DRAMeXchange統計顯示， 2014年中國市場的 DRAM消化量金額為102億美元，佔全球營業額約20%，其龐大內需就足以撐起中國 DRAM 產業的發展，而美國芯成半導體的整併只是中國 DRAM 產業的開端。
DRAMeXchange 表示，目前中國有六個地方政府積極爭取設立 DRAM 廠，而中國中央政府將會選出其中一個地方政府設廠，整合上游廠商發展出具中國自有的技術，並綁定中、下游的產業結構成為一條龍的供應鏈，群聚效應下工廠將不易出走，加上中國自身的龐大市場與經濟規模，維持中國半導體產業成長的永續動能。
西部數據旗下HGST今天宣布，正式推出全球首款10TB硬盤，這款硬盤主要面向企業市場，名為“Ultrastar Archive Ha10”(名字裡的Archive就說明它是當數據倉庫的)。
規格方面，該硬盤採用的是標準的3.5寸機械硬盤外觀，單碟容量達到了1.4TB，總共有7張碟片，重量為650克。採用SATA 6Gbps、SAS 6Gbps傳輸接口，緩存容量256MB。
稍早由Toshiba宣布，與Sandisk技術合作打造以BiCS設計的MLC 3D NAND Flash將實現48層堆疊層數，除超越先前的16層堆疊設計，也一舉超越三星現有3D V-NAND Flash的32層堆疊層數。而由美光 (Micron)與Intel合作同樣具32層堆疊層數的3D NAND Flash，則預期使最大容量進一步擴展，預期將可使M.2規格SSD容量達3.5TB，同時讓2.5吋SSD容量上看10TB。
2014 年 10 月 14 日中國工信部宣布國家積體電路產業投資基金（中國簡稱大基金）成立，引起半導體產業一片譁然，挾著 1,200 億資金，中國有著不小的野心，要建立起中國自己的 IC 一條龍產業鏈。大大小小的併購，宣告一場以中國為首的 IC 併購大戰展開。今年 3 月武岳峰為主的資本投資企業聯合收購了美國 DRAM 商 ISSI，也意味著中國在 IC 產業的野心伸向了 DRAM 產業，收購 ISSI 只是個開始，五個省份向中央爭取設 DRAM 廠的角力戰還在檯面下蠢蠢欲動。
胃納量驚人的中國 DRAM 市場
從 DRAM 市場來觀察，PC-DRAM 在中國市場的消化量已經來到 15%，內需市場的強勁讓聯想逐漸壯大，以併購的方式擠身一線大廠之列，其目前全球 PC 的出貨量與惠普在伯仲之間，在中國市場更是市占第一，遠超過其他競爭對手。
DRAMeXchange 預估，聯想明年市占率將會來到 17% 左右。行動式記憶體部分則由於智慧型手機與平板在中國市場的熱銷，主流產品也逐漸由標準型記憶體轉為行動式記憶體（LPDDR1/2/3/4），加上中國自有智慧型手機品牌廠成為重要的需求來源。除了中興與華為外銷比例較高以外，大部分中國品牌廠仍以內銷為主。以 2014 年總消耗量做計算，中國地區就占了 28% 左右的行動式記憶體的位元需求，2015 年更可望一舉突破 40%，足以證明中國地區的經濟成長發展與 DRAM 產業的榮衰息息相關。
12日美國DRAM廠商ISSI（Integrated Silicon Solution）宣布被中國武岳峰資本（Summitview Capital）收購，雙方以6.4億達成協議，此舉被視為中國要在DRAM產業邁開大步，未來恐造成台灣DRAM廠不小的影響。12日中國武岳峰資本與ISSI聯合發表聲明，前者以每股19.25美元，總計約6.4億美元的代價與ISSI達成收購協議，該項協議還需ISSI股東與反壟斷和其他監管機構批准，預計第三季完成交易。ISSI台灣區的矽成分公司將依台灣相關法規進行重組或出售部分業務。ISSI主要設計與銷售SRAM、中低密度DRAM、EEPROM等集成電路產品，主要應用於汽車、工業、醫療、網路、行動通訊、電子消費產品，目前致力於95奈米與65奈米產品設計和研發，2014年營收約3.29億美元。在收購ISSI之前中國僅有從奇夢達（Qimonda）所分拆出來的西安華芯半導體一家，從事DDR2、DDR3及SoC設計，也跨入NAND Flash、SSD設計，主要投身65奈米、55奈米與44奈米產品與研發。收購方武岳峰資本先前與上海市創業引導基金一同創立了IC信息產業基金，配合中國政府欲大力推動IC產業的戰略目標，此次參與收購的除武岳峰資本還包含： eTown MemTek、北京集成電路基金子基金管理公司清芯華創（Hua Capital），還有中國清華園區所設立的華清積業（Huaqing Jiye）。中國半導體分析師顧文軍分析，中國資本聯合收購將成趨勢。顧文軍也提到，武岳峰資本投資主要著墨於記憶體領域的佈局，年前武岳峰即欲併購美國快閃記憶體大廠Spansion，然而後來花落Cypress，這次的投資標的ISSI亦在記憶體領域，目前DRAM產業以臺韓廠商最為積極佈局，中國的步步進逼，對台廠的威脅也加劇。
為提升NAND Flash性能而將Cell垂直堆疊的3D堆疊技術競爭逐漸升溫。目前三星電子(Samsung Electronics)已具備生產系統獨大市場，SK海力士(SK Hynix)、東芝(Toshiba)、美光(Micron)等半導體大廠也正加速展開相關技術研發和生產作業。
NVM new technologies have been developed in the last 25 years in order to replace flash and DRAM memories, either on niche applications (like FRAM) or for mainstream business, with limited impact up to now. But a series of new technologies (and companies) are now entering volume production, using resistive RAM, magnetic RAM technologies… Let’s discover with Ishai Naveh, co-founder and Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for Adesto Technologies, how the company is envisioning the evolution of its business.
Adesto is both developing CBRAM technology, mainly for low power and low energy applications. One of the very smart moves of Adesto, in parallel to its development, has been the acquisition in 2012 of the serial flash memory activities of ATMEL, generating both sales and direct contacts with customers potentially interested in the CBRAM technology. Yole Développement recently launched a report on Emerging Non Memory Volatile technologies and market trends. Discover more about it here.
Scrolls thousands of years old provide us with a glimpse into long-forgotten cultures and the knowledge of our ancestors. In this digital era, in contrast, a large part of our knowledge is located on servers and hard drives. It will be a challenge for this data to survive 50 years, let alone thousands of years. Researchers are therefore searching for new ways to store large volumes of data over the long term. Particular attention is being paid to a storage medium found in nature: the genetic material DNA.
DNA lends itself to this task as it can store large amounts of information in a compact manner. Unfortunately, the data is not always retrievable error-free: gaps and false information in the encoded data arise through chemical degradation and mistakes in DNA sequencing. Now researchers led by Robert Grass, a lecturer at ETH Zurich's Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, have revealed how the long-term, error-free storage of information can be achieved, potentially for more than a million years. First, they encapsulate the information-bearing segments of DNA in silica (glass) and second, they use an algorithm in order to correct mistakes in the data.
TrendForce旗下記憶體儲存事業處 DRAMeXchange 最新研究報告顯示，全球 DRAM 市場2014第四季展現出淡季不淡的市場趨勢。雖然合約價格自2014年11月緩步下跌，但第四季整體合約均價仍略高於第三季；加上一線大廠積極轉進20/25nm製程，產出增加下，讓 2014年第四季營收再度成長8.2%，達到130億美元，單季營收再度創下新高。
DRAMeXchange 研究協理吳雅婷表示，在各 DRAM 廠先進製程產出增加與比重調配得宜下，獲利能力仍維持相當不錯的成績。以獲利能力來看，三星(Samsung)仍表現最佳，營業獲利達47%， SK海力士(Hynix)則緊追在後達42%；美光集團(Micron)雖以30nm製程為主，但在伺服器記憶體比重提升下，營業獲利升高至29.5%。 DRAMeXchange 預估2015年DRAM產業仍將維持穩定獲利的格局走勢，整體產值來到523億美元規模，年成長近13%。
2011年底，SK集團(SK Group)會長崔泰源決定收購SK海力士(SK Hynix)，成為SK集團的核心關係企業。半導體大廠SK海力士社長樸星昱2013年初接手社長一職後，當年就讓SK海力士轉虧為盈，創造獲利。
根據市場研究機構 TrendForce 旗下記憶體儲存事業處DRAMeXchange 最新報告， 2014年第四季 NAND Flash 市況雖依舊維持健康水準，但在三星電子(Samsung)、東芝(Toshiba)與晟碟(SanDisk)各自面臨價格與產銷端的壓力影響營收、及第三季呈現微幅衰退的情況下，品牌供應商營收僅較第三季成長2%至87.5億美元。
DRAMeXchange 研究協理楊文得表示，因需求端面臨淡季效應，2015年第一季整體市況將轉為供過於求，在價格滑落幅度轉趨明顯的情況下，業者將藉由加速先進製程的轉進，改善成本架構，以減低價格跌幅的衝擊。
Non-volatile memories are increasingly important for all the applications involving electronic content: from the replacement of hard disk drive by solid state memory to all the applications linked to wearable, date storage... With $78B last year, the stand alone memory market is one of the largest market segment in the semiconductor industry.The technologies in place (NAND flash memory for example) are well established and even more new technologies for non-volatile memories are now quite close to enter the market in order to provide adapted functionalities for enterprise storage applications, embedded memories, wearable applications and possibly mobile phone applications on the long run. RRAM, MRAM, STTRAM, PCRAM are competing technologies for a fraction of this memory business. These new technologies are mainly supported by start-ups that are new in the memory business. Such business model induces to set up a supply chain able to move in to high volume production. This is a unique opportunity for the foundries (TSMC but also TowerJazz...) to enter the memory business, for stand-alone devices. These new technologies are bringing new players both at memory design level and at manufacturing level.
The objective of Yole Développement's new report "Emerging Non Volatile Memory (NVM) Technology & Market Trends" is to provide an updated analysis of the applications trends, technology developments and industrial implementations of these new technologies.
We have decided to open our columns to Crossbar which is one of the most innovative company involved in these new technologies. Mr. Sylvain Dubois, VP Marketing & Business Development at Crossbar, answered our questions on his company and shared his analysis on the evolution of this industry.
Yole Développement: Can you briefly introduce Crossbar, its history and current activity?
Sylvain Dubois: Crossbar has been created in 2010 and is working on new generation of non-volatile memory solutions based on Resistive RAM technology. We went out of stealth-mode in 2013 with the successful demonstration of our first integrated Crossbar RRAM and CMOS test chip. We are now transferring our RRAM technology to manufacturing foundries and ready to start the commercialization phase of our RRAM technology.
YD: What are the competitive advantages of your offer?
SD: Crossbar RRAM technology is CMOS compatible, simple to be manufactured in the Back-End of Line of standard CMOS logic foundries using standard equipment tools and processes, even for our 3D RRAM. This will disrupt the existing memory ecosystem by enabling new players in the memory and storage business.
Crossbar RRAM is scalable below 10nm, this will enable very dense and cost-effective storage solutions and also innovative integrated memory + processing logic system architectures at the most advanced nodes.
Crossbar RRAM technology has superior performances vs electron-based technology (low-latency, byte-alterable, 1M cycles, 10Y retention, no block erase)
YD: What are the different applications targeted by Crossbar?
SD: We are targeting two set of applications: We will provide our RRAM technology as embedded memory IP blocks licensed and integrated in MCU/SoC and we will also design stand-alone products for low latency high capacity low power storage solutions.
YD: What are the market drivers for your solution?
SD: There is a huge demand for more data storage coming from the rise of the Internet of Things, both from the small and smart connected devices up to the mega storage data centers in the cloud. In the 2020 timeframe, there will be about 7.6 Billion people and 50 Billion connected devices uploading or streaming content to the Digital Universe that is expected to reach 44 ZettaBytes. That demand for storage capacity represents huge opportunities and businesses and organization who will be able to extract more value from this data will gain strategic competitive advantages. Big Data storage and analytics are key components of future competition and growth in business. Crossbar 3D RRAM is addressing these applications by enabling new generation of nonvolatile, ultra-dense, low-latency, low energy storage solutions.
YD: What is the timeframe for the development of such applications?
SD: We are currently transferring Crossbar RRAM technology to large manufacturing foundries. Samples will be available for strategic customers starting this year.
YD: At Yole Développement, we expect that enterprise storage will be the biggest market for emerging NVM until 2020 with Storage Class Memory applications. Are you involved there? How are data centers end users (like Google, Facebook...) driving the market?
SD: At Crossbar, we also believe that enterprise storage is a huge opportunity and we are actively working with specific strategic partners in this ecosystem.
YD: How do you expect to enter on this very concentrated market where 5 big memory makers are dominant?
SD: The top five memory manufacturers are currently working on similar Flash-based technology. Planar Flash is already facing scalability challenges below 20nm with deteriorating performances, endurance and retention. 3D Flash development requires massive investments to overcome the 3D manufacturing challenges specific to NAND. This will come with increasing manufacturing cost. 3D Flash will have to scale to small geometries to be cost-effective and they will face same challenges as planar Flash. These are the reason why the industry is realizing that Flash technology is running out of steam and that new emerging memory technologies will take over.
YD: In the long run, when do you expect RRAM to have a larger market share than NAND on the memory market ?
SD: It is hard to tell precisely when the storage industry will complete the shift towards RRAM. We might enter very soon in a transition phase where some applications will migrate to RRAM and other layers in the storage hierarchy will stay with HDD or 3D/TLC-NAND.
YD: There are many different kinds of RRAM on the market (CBRAM, OxRAM, CMox...). What is the positioning of your memory in this landscape and its distinctive features?
SD: We are targeting very dense crosspoint memory arrays. Last December we disclosed how Crossbar solves the sneak path current of cross-point memory arrays and we showed results that has never been published by the industry. At the Crossbar memory cell level, the choice of materials and simplicity of the memory cell structure allows a simple manufacturing process which is a major milestone in the go-to-market strategy of any emerging memory technology company.
YD: How easy or difficult is it to put a supply chain in place for such a technology?
SD: The transfer of our RRAM technology to manufacturing foundries is relatively simple. We are working on several business models to provide this technology to customers as an memory IP license or as a stand-alone memory product.
YD: From your point of view, how can a fabless company be successful in this memory business?
SD: Even the largest manufacturing foundries/fabs are not enough for the largest customers so we believe that a fabless model with strategic manufacturing partnerships is the right approach. This will also be a strategic advantage for big players who want to enter this business and develop their specific storage solutions answering their specific needs in the mobile or big data industry.
YD: Crossbar had recently presented a paper at IEDM conference on its array selector technology. What are the next important milestones in your technology developments?
SD: We are executing precisely on our corporate development plan announced at our out of stealth-mode phase in 2013. We are currently in the Fab transfer phase for embedded applications.
YD: Sneak path current is often mentioned as the main challenge for 3D RRAM. Do you confirm? What are the other technological challenges?
SD: The sneak path current is a major challenge of very dense crosspoint 3D arrays and this has been a great milestone achieved by the Crossbar team in 2014. Ramping up a new memory technology is a challenging adventure and we are working hard with our manufacturing partners, alpha customers, investors to take the right decisions at every steps towards mass-production. We built a strong team of experts from the memory industry with a clear focus to deliver and the agility required to face future technical challenges.
More information about the report Emerging Non Volatile Memory (NVM) Technology & Market Trends here.
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