The technology is currently mass produced by Samsung. When it is finished with 1x DRAM development it is going to start working on 1y DRAM and also build up its competitive edge for the future by establishing a development team for 1z DRAM.

SK Hynix’s 1x DRAM has the project name of Alius. The outfit has already manufactured a prototype wafer and is going through its final customer sample tests.

To push forward the timing of mass production of 1x DRAM, the rumour mill suggests that SK Hynix is going to put out the chip to customers immediately for a credibility test and this indicates that it has succeeded in developing 1x DRAM.

It is also believed that the technical gap between Samsung electronics and SK Hynix is about 18 months. If SK Hynix starts mass producing 1x DRAMs in second quarter of next year, this gap will be narrowed to about a year and three months. Samsung Electronics started mass producing 1x DRAMs in the first quarter of this year.

If the rumours are correct, SK Hynix will narrow this gap further by increasing the speed of development of 1y and 1z DRAM. While speeding up a process of development of 1y DRAM with a project name of ‘Davinci’, it is also going to start working on development of 1z DRAM with a project name of ‘Rigel’.

If SK Hynix speeds up its process of development of 1y and 1z DRAMs, it will be able to narrow the technical gap between itself and Samsung Electronics while the gap between itself and Micron will become wider.