Netsol also to start development of 14nm STT-MRAM
South Korean chip fabless company Netsol is planning to supply its first magnetic random access memory (MRAM) to a Chinese customer, the company CEO told TheElec.
Niche memory chips, excluding DRAM and NAND flash, accounted for 5% of the total memory chip market, Netsol CEO Kim Woo-jin said.
Out of these niche chips, MRAM is expected to replace NOR flash and SRAM to take up over 4% of the total market, Kim said.
The MRAM will be supplied to a Chinese industrial chip maker, which has placed a purchase order worth around US$20,000. Netsol plans to use Samsung’s 28-nanometer process for the chip.
Netsol is also planning to start development of next-generation 14nm spin transfer torque (STT)-MRAM after supplying its first MRAM, the CEO said.
Netsol was formed in 2010 by ex-Samsung researchers that specialize in SRAM.
The company is entering the MRAM market as the SRAM market is contracting. SRAM market was at one time worth US$1 billion in the early 2010s but this has dropped to US$400 million as of last year, and is expected to contract further.
According to analyst firm Technavio, the MRAM market is expected to be worth US$952.71 million.
SRAM and MRAM, unlike DRAM, are no-volatile and are much faster but also more expensive.
Out of the two, MRAM is known for its high durability and low power. Other niche memory chips such as ferroelectric random access memory and phase-change random access memory.
While SRAM is expected to account for 80% to 90% of its revenue, revenue from MRAN is expected to exceed this next year, the Netsol CEO said. The chip fabless firm is expected to go public no later than 2025.
