South Korea's major memory chipmakers Samsung and Hynix Semiconductor plan to mass-produce drastically improved memory chips this year using the 60-nano technology, industry sources said on Friday. Currently, the two companies produce dynamic random access memory chips, mostly used in computers, based on 80-nano and 90-nano technologies. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter and fewer nanometers mean more semiconductors can be produced from a wafer.

With the 60-nano technology, experts say that productivity will improve more than 50 percent, compared with the existing lines.

Sources said that Samsung, the world's largest computer chipmaker, will launch the mass production of the new chips as early as March. Hynix, its chief rival, plans to start production of the product in May, they said.

Both companies declined to confirm the exact timeframe.