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Samsung bets big on Pyeongtaek for DRAM dominance
Samsung plans to invest in its DRAM production line in Pyeongtaek. The company is reportedly establishing a 6th-gen DRAM production line at its Pyeongtaek Plant 4. It’s a next-generation DRAM which is in the early 10nm range, called “1c”.
The South Korean tech giant is starting to expand its facilities to respond to the rapidly increasing demand for memory. It came right after the recent confirmation of investment in the DRAM line following the P4 NAND flash.
Samsung has started full-scale line construction to operate in June 2025. The 6th-gen 1c DRAM will be produced at Pyeongtaek Plant 4. DRAM is divided into generations by reducing the circuit line width, and in the semiconductor industry, it is called ‘1a→1b→1c’.
1c DRAM has not yet been commercialized in the global semiconductor industry. Samsung and SK Hynix are currently preparing for mass production. The former plans to start producing 1c DRAM by the end of this year.
Previously, the company planned to start construction on P4 in 2022 and operations this year. Even after completing the P4 building and infrastructure, it did not build a production line. The market slump led it to adopt a reduction strategy.
Samsung has decided to sequentially install equipment for NAND and DRAM processes in the P4 plant. Once mass production begins next year, it will establish itself as a base for cutting-edge memory production.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus could look the same as S24 Plus from the front. The company has reportedly reduced side bezels on the vanilla and Ultra variants. Meanwhile, the lineup’s middle child could introduce no bezel refinements.
The Galaxy S25 Plus could have wider bezels than S25 and S25 Ultra. Tipster IceUniverse claims that the move is aligned with differentiating the Plus from Ultra. It’s also said that the recently leaked renders have frame appearance errors.
The S25 Ultra is said to be slightly thicker and more squarish than the S25 Plus. This is highly due to identical display size with a difference of only 0.1mm. The backplate will have notable differences due to distinct cameras and sensors.
Samsung’s next-gen flagships will likely debut in January next year. Details about the upcoming phones are floating heavily, fading the One UI 7 trend. However, things may change with time as early rumors couldn’t be considered final specs.
A bad news,S25+ will be the widest bezel among the three models, which is almost the same as S24+.
It may be that Samsung did this on purpose to make way for S25 Ultra.
Among the three models, the narrowest bezel is S25 Ultra. pic.twitter.com/CaEPyeooAC— ICE UNIVERSE (@UniverseIce) September 17, 2024
I have a more accurate CAD than onleaks, which contains lines that were missing before, so I know this.
— ICE UNIVERSE (@UniverseIce) September 18, 2024
The Galaxy S25 Plus could be equipped with a 4900mAh battery. Similar to the S24 Plus, it would support 45W fast charging technology. Yet, you can expect even longer battery performance due to the enhanced application processor.
Samsung will either use Exynos 2500 or Snapdragon 8 Gen 4. Both chipsets will be developed using the next-generation 3nm chipset. Improved display technology may further push the power efficiency, offering even more juice to run.
Samsung Foundry is not doing well with the newest cutting-edge technologies. Now, a new report from a Korean media outlet suggests that Samsung could begin DS Division restructuring by year-end, aiming to break down silos.
According to ChosunBiz (via TrendForce), Samsung plans a major shuffle in the DS (Semiconductor Foundry) Division. The move is aimed at addressing issues like lack of communication and team self-interest.
Additionally, Samsung is also facing competition in the DRAM market, falling behind SK Hynix in HBM and DDR5. TrendForce highlights that the company needs to go beyond restructuring to fundamentally change its organization.
Samsung’s DS division reportedly planning to strengthen collaboration processes by integrating existing team-based structures into a project-centered model, to resolve issues arising from the siloed operation of departments.
Recently, it was reported that the company is planning to cut up to 30% of its workforce in the future. The Korean tech giant’s Foundry business is struggling due to various issues, including low yields for the 3nm GAA process.
Earlier, The Korea Times reported that yield for Samsung’s 3nm process remained in the single digits until Q1 this year, and slightly improved to about 20% in Q2. The company needs the yield rate to be at least 60 percent to trigger mass production.
A Samsung spokesperson cited by Chosun Biz admitted that there continues to be a disconnection between the departments developing new processes and those responsible for mass production, with serious issues arising from the shifting of blame for failures.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 joined the historic SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission. The company has recently announced the return of its smartwatch from space post-completion of a space mission aboard SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn.
SpaceX launched its Polaris Dawn (spacewalk) on September 10, which returned safely on the 15th. Samsung today disclosed the Galaxy Watch 5 was “used in a study to monitor the body composition of astronauts” in the Polaris Dawn mission.
Galaxy Watch x SpaceX
Sending the smartwatch to space in a flagship SpaceX mission wasn’t a general task. Samsung collaborated with different US authorities and institutions so its Galaxy Watch is eligible for joining the spacewalk mission.
Polaris Dawn Returned to Earch | Via: Hindustan Times
Samsung says the study was conducted to monitor the human body’s response and health status in a space environment. The company’s Galaxy Watch 5, launched last year, was used in the study to monitor the body’s response of astronauts.
The Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University and the University of Hawaii Cancer Center have announced that the body composition values measured with the Galaxy Watch showed a high correlation of 93% to 97% with the results measured by clinical equipment, such as dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA).
Image: Polaris Program
Notably, the human body’s response and health status in a space environment are completely different from Earth’s. The study was conducted to prevent muscle loss, hence, astronauts wore the Galaxy Watch 5 to experiment.
Samsung’s Watch is way more preferable compared to conventional body composition monitoring gadgets. The Galaxy smartwatch reportedly offered smooth space health research with its accurate monitoring capabilities while being easy to wear.
Body Composition:
Galaxy Watch’s Body Composition feature is supported by Samsung’s BioActive sensor. It allows users to accurately understand physical conditions by analyzing skeletal muscle mass, basal metabolic rate, body water content, and % of body fat.