Samsung Electronics sold its 10 millionth (256Mb equivalent) DDR2 SDRAM chip in July, leading the latest transition in the mainstream memory market.

Samsung has been working on developing and expanding the DDR2 SDRAM market for years. R&D began in 1998, and by May 2002 the company had completed the world's first 512Mb DDR2 SDRAM. In October 2003, Samsung also became the first to ship mass produced DDR2s.

Following the launch of chipsets supporting DDR2 technology in June, Samsung's aggregate DDR2 sales broke 10 million units last July.

The lower voltage rate of 1.8V and faster performance of beyond DDR533 requires a finer geometry of 0.11um and beyond for DDR2 SDRAM production. Samsung's successful breakthrough in advanced process technology enabled the company to command a competitive edge in addressing the DDR2 market as the industry struggled to overcome barriers of the nanometer scale production technology earlier this year.

Dataquest forecasts DDR2 to represent 11 percent of the overall DRAM market but predicts it will emerge as the market leader, with a share of around 50 percent next year. Samsung's DDR2 SDRAM sales milestone confirms its role in leading the introduction and further expansion of the DDR2 SDRAM market. The company expects DDR2 SDRAM to reach 34 percent of its total DDR sales this year.

Samsung Electronics remained in the black while other DRAM makers languished in the red in 2002. This feat was accomplished by leading the DDR SDRAM market and by developing products that stand apart from the competition. Now, Samsung is again setting the market trend by being the first to complete development of the high-speed, next-generation DDR2 SDRAM and to bring it to market ahead of other chipmakers. Samsung officials are confident that their approach will maximize profitability while widening their lead over the competition.

Samsung Electronics will continue to apply cutting-edge technologies to further its leadership in DDR2s as well as other next-generation memory devices including DDR3. Increased market dominance is the expected result.