Samsung unveils 16GB Flash memory

Samsung claims to be the first electronics manufacturer to begin mass producing 16GB Nand Flash, the highest capacity memory chip now available.

The company said that it will fabricate the devices using 51nm technology. The chip has a multi-level cell (MLC) structure and can facilitate capacity expansion by offering 16GB of memory in a single card.

Samsung also claims to have accelerated the chip's read and write speeds by approximately 80 per cent over current MLC data processing speeds.

"In rolling out the densest Nand Flash in the world, we are throwing open the gates to a much wider playing field for Flash-driven consumer electronics," said Jim Elliott, director of Flash marketing at Samsung Semiconductor.

Samsung will offer Flash software and firmware incorporated storage devices for music phones and MP3 players to support 4KB pages.

"Technology migration to 16GB is expected to boost the recent explosive demand for high-density data storage in high-end music phones and the phenomenal trend toward user created content," the company said in a statement.

"As the demand for video content grows stronger by the day, products that feature extended recording time of high-resolution video footage, including mid- to high-range digital cameras, will particularly benefit from the high capacity and performance of 16GB Nand Flash memory."