[News] Samsung Reportedly Faces Yield Issues Regarding 1b DRAM Used in Galaxy S25

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As Samsung plans to unveil its next-gen flagship smartphone, Galaxy S25 series, in early 2025, more details regarding the product have surfaced. Months ahead of the launch, Samsung is said to abandon the dual-processor strategy and equip the entire series with Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 processor. The latest rumor, however, may be related to the yield issue in its 1b DRAM intended to be used in the Galaxy S25 series.

According to a report by Korean media outlet ZDNet, the tech giant might be facing difficulties in its cutting-edge mobile DRAM, the 1b DRAM (5^th-generation 10nm-class DRAM). Last month, Samsung Electronics’ Mobile eXperience (MX) Division reportedly raised concerns with the Device Solutions (DS) Division about delays in the delivery of 1b-based LPDDR (low-power DRAM) samples.

Samsung has been developing 1b DRAM for a period of time, as the company is said to begin mass production of the 16Gb 1b DDR5 DRAM in May last year, ZDNet notes. Afterwards, Samsung started to develop the 32Gb 1b DRAM in September, targeting the high-performance computing (HPC) market, the report states.

Meanwhile, it has been working on developing 1b LPDDR products for mobile devices, primarily targeting the Galaxy S25 series.

However, recent issues seem to have disrupted these plans, the report suggests. It notes that while the DS Division was expected to deliver 1b LPDDR samples in various capacities, including 12Gb and 16Gb, to the MX Division by last month, they were unable to provide the necessary quantities due to yield problems.

Industry experts cited by the report indicate that semiconductors generally require a yield rate above 80% to support stable and cost-effective mass production and supply. While the exact yield rate of Samsung’s mobile 1b DRAM hasn’t been revealed, it is likely to fall well below the target, which prompts Samsung’s MX Division to reevaluate the schedule and the DRAM adoption plan, the report suggests.

According to a previous report by TheElec, though concerns have been raised regarding its 1b DRAM manufacturing, being ambitious on its HBM development, Samsung targets to tape out HBM4 by the end of this year, while it intends to adopt the 10nm 6th-generation (1c) DRAM to manufacture the memory chip.

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(Photo credit: Samsung)