Samsung Electronics has begun mass producing the highest-capacity mobile DRAM – the industry’s first 12-gigabyte (GB) low-power double data rate 4X (LPDDR4X) package – optimized for future premium smartphones.

Featuring higher capacity than most ultra-thin notebooks, the new mobile DRAM will enable smartphone makers offer devices that feature more than five cameras and ever-increasing display sizes as well as artificial intelligence and 5G capabilities. For smartphone users, the 12GB DRAM enables more fluid multitasking and faster searches as they navigate through a myriad of apps on ultra-large high-resolution screens. Also, the 1.1-millimeter thickness allows for even sleeker smartphone designs.

The 12GB capacity was achieved by combining six 16-gigabit (Gb) LPDDR4X chips based on the second-generation 10nm-class (1y-nm) process into a single package, providing more space for the smartphone battery. In addition, by using the company’s 1y-nm technology, the new 12GB mobile memory delivers a data transfer rate of 34.1GB per second while minimizing the increase in power consumption inevitably caused by a boost in DRAM capacity.

From its memory line in Pyeongtaek, Korea, Samsung plans to more than triple the supply of its 1y-nm-based 8GB and 12GB mobile DRAM during the second half of 2019 to meet the anticipated high demand.

Samsung will release its first foldable device, the Galaxy Fold, in late April in the U.S. market at a price of $1,980. The 5G device will be available in South Korea in mid-May, according to company officials.

Equipped with the company's 12GB DRAM and 512GB embedded Universal Flash Storage (eUFS) solution, Samsung's foldable phone is expected to become one of the highest-spec smartphones this year.