SK hynix Inc. announced today that it has developed UFS 4.1 solution product adopting the world's highest 321-layer 1 Tb triple level cell 4D NAND flash for mobile applications. The development comes amid increasing requirements for high performance and low power of a NAND solution product to ensure a stable operation of on-device AI. The company expects the UFS 4.1 product, optimized for AI workload, to help enhance its memory leadership in the flagship smartphone markets.

With an increase in demand for on-device AI leading to greater importance of the balance between computation capabilities and battery efficiency of a device, the mobile market is now requiring thinness and low power from a mobile device. The latest product comes with a 7% improvement in power efficiency, compared with the previous generation based on 238-high NAND and a slimmer 0.85 mm thickness, down from 1 mm before, to fit into ultra-slim smartphones.The product also supports data transfer speed of 4300 MB/s, the fastest sequential read for a fourth-generation of UFS, while providing the best-in-class performance by also improving random read and write speed, critical for multitasking, by 15% and 40%, respectively. Immediate provision of the required data for on-device AI and faster running speed and the responsivity of an application are expected to enhance user experience.

SK hynix plans to win customer qualification within the year and ship in volume from the first quarter of next year. The product will be provided in two capacity types - 512 GB and 1 TB.

Ahn Hyun, President and Chief Development Officer, said that SK hynix plans to complete development of the 321-high 4D NAND-based SSD for both consumers and data centers within the year. "We are on track to expand our position as a full-stack AI memory provider in the NAND space by building a product portfolio with AI technological edge."