First 176-Layer NAND mobile solution

Micron Technology has begun volume shipments of the world’s first 176-layer NAND Universal Flash Storage (UFS) 3.1 mobile solution.

Intended for high-end smartphones Micron’s discrete UFS 3.1 mobile NAND tools to enable 5G’s potential offering up to 75% faster sequential write and random read performance than prior generations, enabling downloads of two-hour 4K movies in as little as 9.6 seconds.

The 176-layer NAND features a 30% smaller die size than other competitive offerings, and is intended for the high capacity, small form factors required in mobile devices.

This launch follows Micron’s volume delivery of PCIe Gen4 solid-state drives with 176-layer NAND in June, which targeted professional workstations and ultrathin notebooks. Now available for smartphones, Micron’s advanced NAND technology will enable a more responsive mobile experience with multitasking across apps.

“5G delivers multigigabit speeds to mobile devices, and a high-performance hardware foundation is critical to powering these lightning-fast mobile experiences,” said Raj Talluri, senior vice president and general manager of Micron’s Mobile Business Unit. “Our 176-layer NAND supercharges smartphones with unparalleled performance, delivering rich multimedia content to consumers’ fingertips in a flash.”

According to Micron, the 176-layer UFS 3.1 solution provides 15% faster mixed workload performance than its prior generation, enabling faster app launching and switching across multiple apps for a smoother mobile experience. As a consequence, users will be able to take advantage of 5G’s speeds with the powerful combination of UFS 3.1 and Micron’s 176-layer NAND.