For eight years, Samsung had doubled memory density each year. The company had dubbed this phenomenon as "Hwang's Law" in 2002. It was named after Hwang Chang-gyu, former head of Samsung Electronics' semiconductor business.
Chip Capacity- From Moore to Hwang
Moore's Law was based on a 1965 observation by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, who claimed that the computing power of chips doubles every 18 months. Hwang had taken a step further, saying that the memory capacity of chips could be doubled every 12 months.
Samsung had proven Hwang's Law to be true for eight consecutive years. Last year, it developed the world's first 64-gigabit NAND flash memory chip. This year, however, the company decided not to hold its annual September event, in which it showcases its latest chip development technologies.
"We've decided to focus our business on boosting output in our pre-existing 32-gigabit and 64-gigabit chip models for this year," a Samsung spokesman said. The official said that the company will emphasize increasing its output volume this year rather than showing off its latest technological feats, one of which includes an unprecedented technology making use of the 3D cell-stack method.
Regardless of Samsung's explanation, the company's decision not to continue with Hwang's Law comes at a time of a prolonged slump in global semiconductor chip markets. Other makers of DRAM and NAND flash memory chips such as Hynix Semiconductor and Micron Technology have recently decided to cut production to cope with dropping profitability.
What is NAND Flash Memory?
NAND chips are components that retain stored information when a device's power is turned off. They are different fom conventional dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, which perform only when supplied with power. Flash memory chips are used in small digital devices such as MP3 players, digital cameras and cell phones. Apple Computer is one of Samsung's biggest clients- using NAND flash memory for its iPods.
Who is Hwang Chang-gyu?
Hwang was an important figure at Samsung, contributing to its rapid semiconductor development. 1985 to 1989, he was a research associate in the Integrated Circuit Laboratory at Stanford University. Then, in 1989, he joined Samsung's semiconductor unit as director of device technology development.
With Hwang at the helm, Samsung evolved from a commodity supplier of DRAMs for PCs, to a broad-based memory solutions provider for computer, mobile and other applications. In 1992, he became executive director of Samsung's semiconductor research center and went on to become vice president in 1999. In 2001, he was head of the memory chip division and became president of the entire semiconductor business in 2004.
It may be coincidence or irony that the company is giving up on Hwang's Law since Hwang was taken away from his post as head of the semiconductor division in May this year to become Chief Technology Officer.
D. Yvette Wohn - Specializing in science and technology but with a personal love of architecture and the arts, I have an ten-year journalism background, ...
