SK Hynix Inc., South Korea’s top-tier memory chipmaker, has tapped into the next-generation mobile-use memory chip market that has been exclusively dominated by its rival Samsung Electronics Co. by introducing its own universal flash storage (UFS) 2.1 memory chip. The move is expected to accelerate competition of mobile-use UFS 2.1 in the semiconductor market.

SK Hynix’s new memory storage system is based on second-generation three-dimensional NAND flash memory - a chip that saves data even without power supply that is rapidly replacing demand for dynamic random-access memory (DRAM).

SK Hynix is the world’s second largest DRAM player after Samsung Electronics. The company has been hit by deteriorating profitability from falling prices of DRAM.

According to SK Hynix on Wednesday, it has unveiled the mobile-use storing device UFS 2.1 at the three-day Intel Developer Forum (IDF) that kicked off on Tuesday at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, the United States. UFS 2.1 is the latest NAND flash solution-based product that boasts high performance. It provides reading sequential performance of 800 megabytes per second and writing at 200 megabytes per second. The memory chip system comes in 128, 64, and 32 gigabyte capacity.

The Korean chipmaker said that it has recently begun mass production and it expects UFS 2.1 to offer best compatibility with mobile processors.

Choi Soo-hwan, head of NAND product planning office at SK Hynix, said that users of smartphones loaded with its UFS 2.1 memory chip will be able to enjoy various high-tech functions including 8K high-definition display and smooth playback of 360 degree videos.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics began mass production of world’s first 128GB embedded UFS chip in February last year.

SK Hynix Inc. stocks rose 2.09 percent to 34,250 won as of 1:42 p.m. in Seoul trading on Thursday.

By Kang Young-woon

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