An announcement from Elpida Memory, Inc. confirms it will develop 4 GB mobile DRAM chips for smartphones. The Japanese company is the #3 memory manufacturer in the world and will use its Hiroshima plant to begin production of these new high-capacity memory chips. The company will also produce the memory modules in Taiwan to avoid shortages due to unforeseen natural disasters. According to the report, the 4GB chips will land in the hands of major clients this summer and will début in retail products in 2012. The market for this high-capacity memory may generate 100 billion yen ($1.2 billion) of sales in 2012/2013.
Earlier this year, Samsung announced it was developing 4GB DRAM memory for smartphones and tablets. The Korean manufacture will use 512-pin technology which will deliver faster data transfer speeds and use 87% less power consumption than the DRAM presently found in mobile devices. Samsung will deliver its 4GB wide I/O mobile DRAM module starting in 2013.