Samsung questions Japanese rival's DRAM breakthrough

SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- A chief of Samsung Electronics Co.'s semiconductor division, the world's largest memory chip supplier, expressed skepticism about its Japanese rival Elpida Memory, Inc.'s recent announcement that it beat Samsung to develop the most advanced memory chip, a company official said Wednesday.
Elpida, the world's third-largest maker of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips after Samsung and Hynix Semiconductor Inc., said earlier this week that it has developed the industry's first DRAM devices based on the 25-nanometer circuit process technology with mass production scheduled to start in July.
Kwon Oh-hyun, president of Samsung's semiconductor business, said it is too early to say that Elpida outstripped the Korean chip maker in the race to develop thinner, more cost-efficient and more power-efficient memory chips, until it can mass produce.
"Its mass production of 25-nanometer-based DRAM chips remains to be seen," Kwon said, casting skepticism in his speech during a weekly meeting with other high-ranking officials at Samsung Group, according to the group's spokesman who attended the meeting.
Samsung and Hynix maintain the lead in the global DRAM market with their combined market share standing at 64.3 percent, according to IHS iSuppli's March data. Elpida, which holds a 13.6 percent share of the global DRAM market, was seen as a distant third by the two Korean companies.
Elpida's announcement apparently jolted officials at the Korean chip makers, which have yet to begin development of DRAM devices based on the 20-nanometer class technology.
In an apparent bid to ease concerns, Kwon told other Samsung's top-ranking officials that it is premature to be worried about Elpida, citing examples in the past.
"The majority of Elpida's products are based on the 50-nanometer and Samsung's are based on 40- and 35-nanometer," Kwon said in the meeting, according to the spokesman.
"In 2009, Elpida declared that it has developed products based on the 40-nanometer technology, but those products are hardly seen in the market. It also said last year they would start shipping DRAM chips based on the 30-nanometer technology, which are still not available in the market."
ylee@yna.co.kr