hankyoreh

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest computer chip maker, said Tuesday that it has developed the world's first flash memory chip based on 30-nanometer production technology.

The 64-gigabit NAND flash memory can help produce a 128-gigabyte memory card that can store up to 80 DVD-quality movie files running for 120 hours, Samsung said in a regulatory filing.

The new flash memory, to be used mostly in portable devices such as mobile handsets, digital cameras and music players, will create a US20 billion market over the next three years, Samsung said.

A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. Fewer nanometers mean that more integrated chip products can be manufactured. Thirty nanometers measures only one 4,000th of the width of a strand of hair.

Since it started to produce 256-megabit memory products in 1999, Samsung has succeeded in doubling their capacity every year. It also has led the world in adopting cutting-edge manufacturing technologies.

Unlike dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, the conventional memory chips used for personal computers, flash memory can retain and store information even when a device's power is turned off. For this reason, it is gaining popularity for use in portable electronic devices.

SEOUL, Oct. 23 (Yonhap)