On February 25, 2025, Micron announced the world's first 1γ (1-gamma) DDR5 samples, bringing 1γ technology to market first, further demonstrating Micron's leadership in technology and manufacturing. As the industry's first company to provide 1γ (1-gamma), sixth-generation (10nm-class) DRAM node DDR5 memory samples to ecosystem partners and select customers, Micron's memory products are designed for next-generation CPUs.
Micron plans to expand the capabilities of this advanced node across its broader DRAM product portfolio. In the second quarter of this year, Micron will provide LPDDR5X 16Gb product samples to select partners for flagship smartphones in 2026. These new products will achieve industry-leading performance and deliver up to 15% energy savings. As energy-intensive use cases such as video and AI-based applications become more widespread, smartphone battery life has become more important than ever, and these new devices will play a crucial role.
Performance Improvement: Micron's 1γ-based DRAM provides significant performance improvements, supporting a wide range of memory products from data centers to edge devices to meet the demands of future AI workloads.
Energy-Saving Advantages: Micron's 1γ node adopts next-generation high-K metal gate CMOS technology, combined with design optimizations, to reduce power consumption by more than 20%, thereby improving thermal performance.
Bit Density Improvement: Micron's 1γ node leverages EUV lithography, design optimizations, and process innovations to increase the number of bits per wafer by more than 30% compared to the previous generation, further enhancing the scalability of memory supply.
To strengthen its leadership in mobile storage solutions, Micron announced during MWC 2025 the world's first UFS 4.1 and UFS 3.1 mobile storage solutions based on G9 NAND. G9 NAND is Micron's latest 276-layer NAND with IO speeds reaching 3.6GT/s. Leveraging the advantages of G9 NAND, Micron has significantly improved the speed and energy efficiency of these two UFS storage devices while providing scalable mNAND capacities from 256GB to 1TB to meet the needs of ultra-thin and foldable smartphone designs.
In addition to leading process technology, Micron is also innovating at the firmware level. They work with leading smartphone OEMs to design differentiated firmware features that address the latest pain points and provide consumers with a smoother, more intuitive experience. Micron's latest UFS 4.1 solutions offer the following proprietary firmware features for flagship smartphones:
Partitioned UFS: Improves read/write efficiency and reduces write amplification by categorizing and storing data with similar I/O characteristics in the same area within the UFS device.
Data Defragmentation: Enhances read performance and reduces host overhead by relocating/defragmenting data within the UFS device, increasing read speeds by up to 60%.
Fixed WriteBooster: Supports faster access to data located in the WriteBooster buffer, increasing random read speeds by up to 30%.
Smart Latency Tracker: Records longer system latency events within the UFS device for analysis and debugging, ultimately optimizing the system and enhancing user experience (also available on UFS 3.1).
It's worth noting that recently Samsung Electronics' MX division has selected Micron as the primary supplier of LPDDR5X memory for the launched Galaxy S25 series phones. This is the first time Micron has achieved primary supplier status in this field, having previously been Samsung Electronics' second memory supplier for flagship Galaxy smartphones for many years. Samsung DS division's 1bnm LPDDR5X DRAM performed poorly in two key parameters: heat generation and yield, leading the MX division to ultimately choose Micron after comprehensive consideration of performance and price.
In its collaboration with Samsung on the Galaxy S25 series phones, Micron introduced its industry-leading Low Power Double Data Rate 5X (LPDDR5X) memory and Universal Flash Storage (UFS) 4.0, marking Micron's first market introduction of its most energy-efficient LPDDR5X memory ever, providing users with over 10% power consumption improvement. Samsung phones also introduced multi-modal AI agents to provide an intuitive and contextually aware mobile AI experience. At the same time, with its One UI 7 update, the Galaxy S25 series has become a true AI companion, offering personalized experiences tailored to users' unique needs, supported by multi-modal AI agents that seamlessly interpret text, voice, images, and videos.
