- SK Hynix establishes a new milestone with 321 layers QLC Nand for PC SSDS
- The performance and efficiency improvements come before the implementation of Enterprise and AI Server
- It is unlikely that consumers see SSD high capacity cheap until costs fall more
SK Hynix has confirmed that the mass production of its new 321 -layer QLC Nand Flash has begun, which makes it the first in the industry to cross the threshold of 300 layers with the QLC technology.
The company completed the development of the chip in early 2025 and says that it plans to launch commercial products in the first half of 2026, once the customer validation ends.
The chip has a capacity of 2 TB by given, twice as of the previous solutions.
Energy efficiency improvements
To address the slower performance that often comes with Nand QLC of greater density, SK Hynix expanded the number of aircraft within the four to six chip.
This change allows greater parallel processing, which improves reading and writing speeds while keeping under energy.
The company says that its data transfer speeds are twice faster compared to its previous QLC offers, with writing speeds of up to 56% faster and reading performance improved by 18 percent.
Energy efficiency during writing operations also increases by more than 23%, something that will import in large data environments where energy costs are controlled closely.
Although the long -term objective is to use business SSD technology for data centers and storage of ultra -capacity aimed at AI servers, the company says that PC SSDs will be the first products to send with the 321 -layer chips.
That means that consumers can see benefits before business clients, although the initial approach will not necessarily be in units of low cost and high capacity.
“With the beginning of mass production, we have significantly strengthened our high capacity products portfolio and the competitiveness of insured costs,” said Jeong Woopyo, Nand Development Chief.
“We will make a great leap forward as a full -fashioned AI memory supplier, in line with the explosive growth of the demand for AI and the high performance requirements in the data centers market.”
SK Hynix also plans to use its stacking technology, which allows up to 32 trocas in a package, in future ultra capacity solutions. He expects this especially important in the storage markets promoted by AI, where both density and efficiency are key points of sale.
While the arrival of this NAND marks a great step towards a larger and more affordable storage, it is unlikely that the SSD of cheap 8 TB consumers arrive in the short term, due to the high manufacturing costs, the complexity of the packaging and the validation cycles.
