SK hynix said on the 11th that it has supplied "ZUFS 4.1," the industry's first mass-produced high-performance NAND solution for mobile devices, to a customer.
ZUFS (Zoned UFS) is a product that applies zoned storage technology, which stores data in different zones depending on its use and characteristics, to UFS, a high-speed flash memory storage device.
SK hynix, through close collaboration with customers, developed version 4.1 with greatly improved data transfer speed and power efficiency, completed the certification process in Jun., and began full-scale mass production in Jul.
SK hynix said, "As this product is adopted in a global customer's latest smartphone, we have once again been able to prove the excellence of our technology in the global market," adding, "We will support smartphones' powerful on-device artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to deliver innovative experiences to users."
When this product is installed in a smartphone, the operating system (OS) runs faster and data management efficiency improves. As a result, degradation in read performance during long-term use is alleviated more than fourfold, shortening app launch times by 45% compared with conventional UFS.
As for data storage, UFS overwrites new data on top of existing data, whereas this product is designed to record sequentially, reducing AI app launch times by 47%. In addition, its error-handling capability is enhanced compared with version 4.0, improving system reliability and recovery.
Accordingly, SK hynix explained that the new product is evaluated as an optimized solution for today's mobile environment, where on-device AI and large-scale data processing are key.
Kim Ju-seon, president of AI Infrastructure and chief marketing officer (CMO) at SK hynix, said, "ZUFS 4.1 is the first case of development and mass production through collaboration to optimize the Android operating system and storage, and its scope of application will expand," adding, "We will continue to supply the NAND solutions customers require in a timely manner and strengthen partnerships with global corporations to build differentiated competitiveness in AI memory."