Micron Technology, Inc., (Nasdaq: MU) today announced that it has begun mass production of the industry’s highest-capacity and first monolithic 12Gb low-power double data rate 4x (LPDDR4x) DRAM for mobile devices and applications. This latest generation of Micron’s LPDDR4 memory brings key improvements in power consumption while maintaining the industry’s fastest LPDDR4 clock speeds, thereby delivering advanced performance for next-generation mobile handsets and tablets. In addition, Micron’s 12Gb LPDDR4x doubles memory capacity to offer the industry’s highest-capacity monolithic LPDDR4 without increasing the footprint compared to the previous generation product.

The exponential increase in usage of compute and data-intensive mobile applications such as artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR) and 4K video has been accompanied with demands by mobile users to maximize battery life and performance and increase capacity. Next-generation mobile devices that integrate multiple high-resolution cameras and increasingly use AI for image optimization also require higher DRAM capacities to support these features.

As the industry transitions towards deployment of 5G mobile technology, the memory subsystem in mobile handsets will have to support these dramatically higher data rates and the associated processing of data in real-time. New applications built upon 5G technology will also be able to leverage the increased capabilities of the memory subsystem to enable new and immersive user experiences.

As the industry’s highest-capacity monolithic mobile memory, Micron’s LPDDR4x DRAM delivers industry-leading bandwidth and power efficiency, along with the benefit of enabling higher DRAM capacities in the handset.

“Micron is a recognized pioneer in bringing low-power DRAM technology to the world and we once again have delivered another milestone with the launch of the industry’s first, highest-capacity monolithic 12Gb mobile DRAM,” Senior Vice President and General Manager of Micron’s Mobile Business Unit Raj Talluri said. “This latest generation of LPDDR4 enables mobile handset manufacturers to deliver a rich user experience for ultra-slim mobile devices as user demands for performance, capacity and longer battery life continue to rise as a result of data-intensive applications.”

The LPDDR4x DRAM will be produced based on 1Y-nm (10-nanometer-class) process technology, resulting in improved efficiency and reduction in battery power consumption. Micron’s LPDDR4x mobile DRAM is capable of reducing power by up to 10 percent at similar data rates of 4,266 megabits per second (Mb/s) compared to previous generations.