SK Hynix has returned to the consumer solid state drives market again, three years after the company disappeared in the market in 2012. Recently, it has released a new SSD product, which is based on triple level cell (TLC) flash technology and its own controller technology, in Japan, seeking to extend the share of the consumer market as well.

According to industry sources on Oct. 21, SK Hynix has recently put a new consumer SSD product, the “Canvas SL300,” on the Japanese market, and will soon enter the European market too. Previously, the company launched the SC300 series on a small scale from Aug. and carefully tried to open the consumer market. The new model is a product based on 16 nm TLC NAND, which has high productivity and a degree of integration.

Accordingly, SK Hynix is the third company to release the TLC-based consumer SSD product among large NAND flash memory manufacturers, following Samsung Electronics and Toshiba. Samsung Electronics has been selling SSD products using TLC NAND flash memory from last year, and Toshiba has also started selling TLC-based SSD products from this year.

TLC NAND flash memory is currently one of the most talked about in the memory semiconductor market. A cell is the smallest unit of data storage, and TLC can store 3 bits per cell. Its storage efficiency is two to three times better than the existing multiple level cell (MLC), so it has higher memory capacity even in a smaller product. However, TLC has a reduced lifespan compared to MLC. In order to make up for such a shortcoming, it needs to have a controller with high performance. SK Hynix has carried out three M&As in the last three years in a bid to secure a controller technology, securing the competitiveness.

Meanwhile, SK Hynix is making every effort to diversify its sales portfolio, which is concentrated on the DRAM industry. In addition to the DRAM business that accounts for 80 percent of the total sales, the company is working on new businesses on a small scale, including SSDs, system semiconductors, and a foundry. For the NAND business, in particular, the price is decreasing rapidly so that profitability is not guaranteed anymore as a single business.

Therefore, SK Hynix is planning to diversify its business portfolio through SSDs, which are a major source of the demand for NAND flash memory.

By: DocMemory
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