Samsung Sees Scant Interest In 600-MHz RDRAM

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June 16, 1999 (8:52 AM EDT)

Samsung Sees Scant Interest In 600-MHz RDRAM

By Jack Robertson,

KIHEUNG, South Korea -- If Intel chooses to launch a chipset that supports the 600-MHz initial speed grade of Direct RDRAM, Samsung Electronics said its customers will not show much interest.

"Our customers are not interested in a 600-MHz Rambus," said Y.W. Lee, president and CEO of Samsung's semiconductor division.

Because memory makers are getting their highest initial yields of Direct RDRAM in 600-MHz parts, Intel said it is planning to debut its Camino Intel 820 chip set with support for that speed grade at the end of September, then launch another chip set several weeks later that would support 700- and 800-MHz Rambus chips. Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel denied the reports, and said it will simultaneously roll out chip sets that support all Rambus speeds grades.

Lee said in an interview at Samsung's chip headquarters here in Kiheung, South Korea, that Samsung's customers only want 700- and 800-MHz Rambus chips. He said a few OEMs might take the lower-performance 600-MHz version if they are the only Rambus chips available, he said, but most are waiting for the higher-speed chips.

Lee expressed doubts about analyst projections that 700- and 800-MHz Direct RDRAM types will be production-ready by September. That might be too soon for yields of the higher-speed Direct RDRAM chips to reach mass production, Lee said.

"By the end of the year, Direct Rambus speed may move to 700 MHz, and Samsung's production will be more than 1 million units," he said.

The highest-speed Direct RDRAM versions should be in full production by next year, and will establish a beachhead in high-end systems before moving into the mainstream PC market, Lee said.

A full Direct Rambus infrastructure will be in place before 2000, he said. "The infrastructure isn't ready yet," Lee said. "Testers are not ready. Back-end assembly operations aren't completely in place. Mass production of RIMM modules isn't available."

But by next year, Samsung said it expects all Direct RDRAM pieces will be in place for the new memory chip to take off.

Only memory makers with 0.18-micron process technology will be able to achieve production yields of 700- and 800-MHz Direct RDRAM chips, Lee said. "Many companies will try to make Direct Rambus at 0.2-micron or 0.25-micron, but their capacity will be limited in high-performance product," he said.

A year 2000 ramp-up for Direct RDRAM will not give any early edge in the market to rival PC133 SDRAM, Lee said. "PC133 is not a big winner, though some companies are already pushing it. But PC133 will not be a high-volume product."

Lee said PC133 SDRAM chips are expected to represent "a small portion" of Samsung's DRAM sales.

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