Amid rising global trade tensions in 2019, the semiconductor industry is experiencing revenue declines as it struggles with the changes and uncertainties resulting from the technology war between the US and China. Flash memory prices peaked in 2017 but then started to go on a downward trend until reaching a bottom in 2019. With the tug of war between market demand and production capacity in addition to the shift in product segmentation, there are still global economic uncertainties going forward. However, a slew of new applications enabled by 5G x AI technologies are catching market attention, including automotive electronics, artificial intelligence (AI), 8K TV and streaming video, smart home, and smart IoT. They will open up new opportunities as the year 2020 unfolds.Ming-Cheng Lin, Macronix marketing center director, expects the year 2020 to bring favorable news to memory suppliers as the flash memory market welcomes a strong demand for memory chips, which will accelerate a change in demand for high-capacity memory products and future development. Prices of all types of flash memory products are surging, followed by those of DRAM. What is noteworthy is that with limited foundry capacity on top of priority planning and capacity reduction, rapid advances and transformation of high value-added memory products as well as memory chip process improvements and breakthroughs, Macronix is poised for a wave of steady growth as the market embraces surging market expansion.NOR flash enjoys ongoing popularity with flourishing applications to keep fueling growth"Memory demand from new applications is on the rise, calling for a seven percent to 10 percent increase in production capacity," said Lin. "However, supply unable to keep up with demand may be the main reason for the current surge in memory prices. True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earbuds such as AirPods and AirPods Pro, as well as a new generation of smartphones coming with OLED displays, are boosting demand for memory products. Moreover, with micro-servers being increasingly used at 5G base stations, data center equipment and server suppliers are focusing efforts on edge computing technologies, making the segment a key area of competition, which also exacerbates memory shortages.Citing NOR flash as an example, Lin pointed out that global semiconductor supply has dropped from 900,000 wafers per month to 750,000-800,000 wafers, calculated based on 12-inch equivalent wafers. Buoyed by continuingly growing innovations of small-sized smart devices, NOR flash demand remains high with a six percent CAGR between 2018 through 2023. Although NOR flash's costs may trend downward due to its large supply, the global NOR flash market will maintain a US$2 billion market worth, thanks to growing demand. As related production capacity is unlikely to see any further expansion, latecomers to the NOR flash memory market will have difficulty catching up with existing market leaders.Macronix secures its lead in the NOR flash market, targeting 256Mb or larger medium- and high-capacity productsWith U.S.-based NOR flash firms exiting the market, Macronix has stepped up to fill the void. Furthermore, as most China-based competitors are fabless design houses, they sustain a more serious impact from foundries giving priority to producing chips with higher profit margins such as contact-image sensors. The situation favors Macronix, allowing it to maintain a leading position.In analyzing NOR flash products with different capacities, Lin further noted that, despite only representing 10 percent of the shipments to the market, 256Mb and larger NOR flash products contribute 30 percent to 40 percent of the total revenues. The competition in the segment is also less intense. In view of this, Macronix has decided to focus on 256Mb and larger medium- to high-capacity NOR flash products, making the category its breadwinner and a major growth driver that boosts its 2020 revenues and profitability.Cost advantage and in-house production maximize SLC NAND flash benefitsSecuring the largest share in NOR flash and ROM markets, Macronix is stepping up efforts toward its latest NAND flash, making it another important product line. Commenting on the market of SLC NAND, which is often used in embedded systems, Lin spoke candidly that the cost advantage and in-house production are the key to success. Cost is the main consideration to system integrators when choosing SLC NAND, so suppliers have to stay ahead in semiconductor process technologies or they will not be able to keep up with customer requirements on cost. As such, Macronix led the industry in producing SLC NAND on the 19nm node after making a more than NT$10 billion capital investment. Macronix launched a new-generation SLC NAND solution in 2019, guaranteed with not only the absolute cost advantage but also industry-leading chip capacity and size.Meeting the requirements and trends of iconic IoT applications such as smart city and smart home, SLC NAND is widely used in white goods including refrigerators, air conditioners and even cleaning robot. This goes to show that growing use of and demand for SLC NAND will become a sure trend. With its capacity expansion plans clicking into place, Macronix will be able to maintain stable production and prices and therefore is poised to capture exclusive business opportunities.As Macronix's NOR flash is being used in most 5G base stations, production priority will increasingly be committed to 5G applications. Although the prosperity is exciting, what Macronix hopes to achieve is to obtain more market share amid the flash market reshuffling and to capture the opportunity that has opened up with the market changes. Despite the upcoming memory price rises, Macronix will still endeavor to assist customers to achieve success.Ming-Cheng Lin, director of Marketing Center, Macronix

As opposed to multi-level cell (MLC) and triple-level cell (TLC) memory, single-level cell (SLC) NAND flash enables high-speed reads and writes as well as excellent reliability and therefore meets the requirements for high performance and high durability imposed by IoT devices, automotive electronics and emerging embedded applications. However, amid fierce market competition, the ability to maintain a cost advantage continues to play an instrumental role in a product's success. Memory manufacturers have been leveraging progress in miniaturization of semiconductor integrated circuits to help them keep costs down and stay ahead of the competition.Psyche Kuo, deputy director of product marketing at Macronix International, noted that as a leading manufacturer of nonvolatile memory solutions for three decades, Macronix has accumulated extensive experiences in the volume production of SLC NAND, making its way onto the list of the world's top three SLC NAND suppliers. Its outstanding track record in SLC NAND applications in embedded systems, on top of its excellent product quality and production capacity, has enabled Macronix to win support from system integrators and its memory spec to become mainstream standard used in wide-ranging embedded systems. To stay on top of market demand, Macronix has again introduced new-generation SLC NAND solutions produced on the 19nm node, taking advantage of advanced semiconductor process technologies.In full control of production with its own fabrication facilities, Macronix boosts customer satisfactionMacronix expects the family of 19nm SLC NAND products to become a major pillar supporting its 2020 revenue. The 19nm SLC NAND family comprises two subgroups: SLC NAND featuring full support for the Open NAND Flash Interface (ONFI) and Serial NAND. They target niche application markets including smart speakers, set-up boxes, streaming TV, smart home devices and other high-profile electronics, as well as niche high-end network communication products such as broadband network access equipment. Satisfying customer needs in memory capacity and cost, Macronix's 19nm SLC NAND will further strengthen its leading position in the embedded memory market.First and foremost, Kuo pointed out that embedded system customers attach great importance to product quality and supply stability. Macronix operates its own fabrication facilities and thus is in control of production capacity. It is capable of planning production capacity to accommodate customers' shipment schedule. With a proven track record of shipping billions of chips and years of experience in volume production, Macronix is able to maintain long-term relationships with brand customers based on the guarantee of supply stability and agile production planning.As it moves to advanced technology, the SLC NAND naturally will require a host controller to handle stronger error correction code (ECC). Macronix's 19nm SLC NAND requires the same 8-bit ECC as other 2x-nanometer SLC NAND in the industry now, which is the mainstream specification. Additionally, the Macronix family provides tailored features to satisfy more needs to customers in niche markets.Macronix taps growing niche markets with a diversity of new product featuresAside from ECC requirement following the mainstream specification, the new SLC NAND is the first to come with a unique ID (UID) based on the "physical un-clonable function" (PUF), which comes from cell characteristic and it is truly random and un-predictable. Macronix's new 19nm SLC NAND components allow for checking the authenticity of a memory component to make sure it has not been swapped with an unauthorized one. The UID can be retrieved using a read-unique ID command. The microcontroller can compare the read-out of the ID with the original one stored in a safe area.The new SLC NAND also features randomizer function, which is especially for a special data pattern, such as extreme an unbalance data pattern on the distribution of zeros and ones. For NAND read interference caused by errors in this kind of case, this function is used to pre-transform the data into evenly distributed zeros and ones and to resolve the risk of data being read inaccurately.In addition, the NAND memory is susceptible to the Read Disturb effect due to highly intensive and frequent reads - a situation that can easily cause read data errors after high-intensive frequent erasure and data modification (Program Disturb), as well as long-term data retention requirements. In response to these situations and high-quality reliability requirements, a special read function named the Special Read for Data Recovery is provided in the Macronix 19nm SLC NAND for data recovery. This function can adjust the internal condition of NAND FLASH, and may save data and extend the memory lifetime from that. These new features effectively reduce errors during data reading, improve system stability, and meet the stringent requirements of embedded systems for data access applications.Shipments of the 3V 4Gb model began in the fourth quarter of 2019 with 1/2/8Gb devices to follow in the first quarter of 2020. Macronix is also preparing to launch of 1.8V 19nm SLC NAND. Kuo has high hopes for the 3V product family due to large market demand and the wide range of embedded system applications needing SLC NAND, especially those running Linux OS. Macronix is envisioning large orders going forward into 2020.19nm SPI NAND flash with cost advantage allows processors to maximize their benefitsMacronix's 19nm SPI NAND series is positioned as niche and high-value-added products. As CPU manufacturers scramble to add powerful computing cores to cope with the demand of smart Automotive Internet of Things (AIoT) applications, equipping CPUs with 8-bit, 12-bit or even higher ECC capability is becoming standard in the market. In view of this, processing of ECC by the memory is inefficient, while ECC-related specifications vary among memory vendors, thus posing problems for microcontrollers to adopt ECC. Macronix specifically removed the built-in ECC function of 19nm SPI NAND memory products, allowing customers to fully enjoy the high-performance advantage of cost and processor control, in line with its strategy to move toward customization and cater to market demand.Macronix regards satisfying leading semiconductor firms as its top priority. Moreover, as 19nm chips are smaller and therefore can better accommodate different system-in-package (SiP) designs by leading semiconductor firms, a wide variety of customized semiconductor solutions can be made through with them. Major system chipmakers can use a stack of different density memory chip with logic chips or processors to integrate some customized semiconductor solutions. As leading vendors, Macronix is the first to launch a complete solution for 19nm SLC NAND memory, which takes an important step forward in embedded applications and helps international brands to expand the markets for smart devices, smart communication and AIoT systems.Psyche Kuo, deputy director of product marketing at Macronix InternationalMacronix introduces new 19nm SLC NAND flash

In incorporating AI-based systems, enterprises must first determine the real purpose of adopting them and should noy use them merely as a tool for data presentation, otherwise the systems may become a "disaster" for backend data users, according to Kevin Tu, senior director at Macronix International.Tu made the remarks when sharing Macronix's experiences in incorporating AI systems into its memory fabs at a seminar held alongside the just-concluded TPCA Show in Taipei. More than 20 years ago, the company already utilized Super Nova production management system developed in house based on an AI concept to enhance process control and plant management.Data visualization is just the first step of any AI-enabled system, and what really counts is data utilization, Tu said, adding that the system must possess a decision-making capability to help IT engineers work out smart decisions. If the system is used for data presentation only, it will remain a traditional IT system, unable to show the real value of an AI system.Tu reasoned that data generated by a fab is now measured in terms of TB, and it would be a "disaster" for engineers who need to sort out critical part from the big data if the AI system lacks decision-making capability.After data becomes visualized, Tu continued, enterprises must narrow the scope of data by classifying the data in accordance with their importance, and then engineers can determine whether to access the data or not before locating useful data.At the seminar, Macronix president JK Chen also noted that his firm's 12-inch fab with a monthly capacity of 20,000 wafers can collect over two billion pieces of data a day, and the data volume will grow exponentially to over 10 billion pieces for an 12-inch fab with a monthly capacity of 100,000-120,000 wafers. With this, he said, how to convert the big data into useful ones will pose the largest challenge to fab managers.

The automotive industry is steering toward a future of self-driving cars, where vehicles can be controlled via smartphones, drive autonomously from the parking lot to pick up their owners, communicate with their surroundings over vehicle-to-everything (V2X) networks, and avoid roads with traffic congestions or accidents. In line with the megatrend of digitization, the automotive industry is incorporating a massive quantity of electronic control units (ECUs) and software systems in today's automobiles.In particular, an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), in-vehicle infotainment system and digital dashboard all use a myriad of control units comprising microcontroller units (MCUs) and high-performance processing chips. Existing embedded flash memory can hardly keep up with the need of these automotive electronics systems. This gives rise to the growing use of external flash memory with increasing capacities.As automotive electronics systems grow in the level of integration and complexity, semiconductor chips with robust security implementations to suit artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and V2X applications are grabbing industry attention. The implementations of information security - including identity authentication, crypto keys, secure boot and a range of protection technologies for data storage - have traditionally been carried out by processors. However, a new trend is emerging: making use of native security functionalities on memory chips to guarantee data confidentiality and integrity while reducing potential risks. The combined use of Macronix's new ArmorFlash solution with NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Xavier and Pegasus platforms in high-performance Level 2+ to Level 5 autonomous driving systems set a good example of success scenarios.Dr. Donald Huang, deputy director of product marketing at Macronix International, commented during a recent interview that the industry is attaching great importance to security implementations on memory chips. The use of native functionalities including data encryption and decryption, identity authentication and anti-tamper protection on top of the "physical unclonable function" (PUF) code generated with the chips' unique and unpredictable characteristics can ensure data confidentiality and integrity. Such high-end secure memory solutions can then be incorporated in wide-ranging applications requiring robust information protection. Macronix's new ArmorFlash Series is Iconic as a secure memory solution.ArmorFlash enables higher-level information security and protectionAs global semiconductor manufacturers and tier-1 automakers exert efforts to meet market demand for higher-level information security and protection in network communication and data access solutions, Macronix leads the industry in launching its ArmorFlash total solution, pushing the frontier of flash memory data security. Macronix ArmorFlash comes with data encryption and decryption, identity authentication, anti-tamper protection, AES 256-bit encryption, TrueRandom Number Generation (TRNG) and monotonic Counter. On top of these features, ArmorFlash features the PUF code to guarantee data confidentiality and integrity. It ideally supports the use in automotive systems, industrial control applications and IoT devices throughout the product lifecycle from deployment, installation to long-term operation by enabling strong protection against data corruption and malware implant.ArmorFlash supports SPI standardsThe Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) is a synchronous serial communication interface commonly adopted in IoT devices and automotive electronics. Memory products supporting SPI can facilitate electronics system integration, accelerate development cycle and shorten time to market. Manufactured with advanced process technologies and supporting floating gate flash memory technology, Macronix's market-recognized SPI flash memory features an amazingly high 250MHz clock frequency, making the series the fastest SPI NOR flash on the market. Macronix takes it one step further by introducing the ArmorFlash total solution with SPI support to address information security requirements by automotive electronics and IoT devices, pioneering the advances in data protection for the global flash memory industry.AEC-Q100-Compliant ArmorFlash is available with 1.8V and 3V operating voltagesThe first ArmorFlash MX75U25690F is being produced and marketed in volume. The product has passed rigorous AEC-Q100 qualification tests. With the ability to operate in extreme temperatures ranging from -40 degree C and +105 degree C, the MX75U25690F ideally supports data storage and processing in the limited footprint inside automobiles. It also works well with mainstream controller and processor chips manufactured by leading automotive chipmakers. Macronix plans to add products supporting 1.8V and 3V operating voltages to its ArmorFlash product portfolio. Going forward, Macronix's non-volatile memory product families that include SLC NAND, NOR and eMMC will also incorporate ArmorFlash to enable complete data protection for automotive electronics.Comprehensive capacity selections to meet automotive applicationsAs automotive systems evolve with ever-increasing innovative features, they need increasingly larger memory capacity. Available in 8Mb to 8Gb capacities, Macronix's ArmorFlash products are designed to meet the two main market requirements: large capacity and robust security. The MX75 ArmorFlash Flash Memory solutions in BGA, SOP or KGD packages are being shipped to customers for authentication and crypto key protection purposes in wide-ranging IoT devices, automotive electronics, smart home products and industrial applications.Macronix attended 2019 Semicon Taiwan: Smart Transportation Forum, taking place September 18, 2019, and invited attendees to experience the enormous development potential of ArmorFlash in the automotive sector. Visit http://www.semicontaiwan.org/zh/node/14571 for more information.Macronix ArmorFlash memory optimal for secure authenticity & confidentiality

The technology industry is attaching great importance to Internet of Things (IoT) developments with major market research institutions predicting explosive growth in the coming years. The number of connected IoT devices worldwide is expected to top 20 billion units in 2020. The astoundingly large quantity of IoT devices also brings public concerns over their vulnerability in terms of information security. Take high-profile smart home applications, for example. They address different challenges with innovative technologies combining smart devices, IoT gateways and cloud service platforms. However, as information leaks and negligence become growingly common, developments of these applications have been hindered. As such, information security is instrumental to the rise of IoT.The implementations of information security - including identity authentication, crypto keys, secure boot, and a range of protection technologies for data storage - all rely on unique encoding for the purposes of encryption or identification. Unique ID (UID) is the most common design on the market and the encoding depends on the rules that each individual manufacturer uses. Although the manufacturers may use different rules, people still often hear about UID being cracked, leveraging growing CPU and GPGPU power, as well as techniques such as rainbow tables.Accordingly, security technologies are increasingly making use of a chip's biometrics-like characteristics for encoding. The semiconductor manufacturing process introduces random subtle differences to the chip during front-end photolithography when the integrated circuits are being etched. The fabrication differences are still within acceptable standards, leaving a minor physical difference on the surface that is unique to the chip - much like a person's fingerprints. Encoding using these characteristics, dubbed "physical un-clonable function" (PUF), can serve as the fingerprint of the chip.Dr. Donald Huang, deputy director, product marketing, Macronix International, commented during a recent interview the security of information on semiconductor chips becomes increasingly important. Memory chips have unique, unpredictable and unclonable characteristics introduced during the semiconductor fabrication and therefore can be used for all kinds of information security applications.In view of this, Macronix has launched whole new MX7 flash memory solutions with ArmorFlash. Each memory chip is added with a PUF code that is generated with the chip's unique characteristics obtained using Macronix's internally developed technology. Accordingly, each memory chip is incorporated with a critical security module which can serve as a secure ID or key for a wide range of identification or encryption urgently needed by burgeoning IoT, automotive electronics, wearable devices, smart home and industrial applications.The ArmorFlash PUF code can be customized to be of various bit lengths based on customer's security requirements. The ArmorFlash PUF code is an identification code that cannot be duplicated and serves as a root of trust for chip security. The memory chip's identity authentication operations and standard encryption key generation procedures guarantee robust security across all phases including production, activation, configuration, installation and long-term operation on IoT devices. They also allow software and firmware on the flash memory to be validated in a way similar to a digital signature created using the ArmorFlash PUF code to prevent data from being compromised or malware from being planted in IoT devices.Macronix has introduced its high-performance 8 I/O OctaBus Serial NOR Flash Memory with a 500MB/s data transfer rate manufactured on advanced 55nm process and supporting high-reliability floating gate flash memory technology. With a 250MHz clock frequency, it's the fastest SPI NOR Flash on the market. Macronix now leads the industry again by launching the ArmorFlash total solutions to address IoT information security challenges, pushing the frontier of flash memory security protection for worldwide markets.Huang emphasized the ArmorFlash series is designed with the same I/O interface as that of Macronix's existing memory chips to make them compatible with each other and to effectively shorten time-to-market for the IoT industry, to which timing is everything. Macronix has been delivering chips to IoT device customers for design verification and it has also been engaging in intense collaborations with system designers and manufacturers of IoT applications for comprehensive testing. Macronix will also add ArmorFlash PUF code to a spectrum of non-volatile memory offerings including SLC NAND, NOR and eMMC in accordance with customer's memory spec requirements to enable complete IoT information security protection.Huang pointed out Macronix memory is widely used in world-leading IoT brands in market sectors, including smart wearable, smart lighting, smart home, smart thermostat, security, factory automation, and Internet of Vehicles. With growing needs for stronger information security, ArmorFlash will enable Macronix to build up its presence in the memory solution market and help international brands ride the wave of IoT opportunities.Dr. Donald Huang, deputy director, product marketing, Macronix International

While tech innovations have kept driving medical innovations, Taiwan can move to build smart medicine ecosystems by applying 5G and AI technologies to promote new-generation telecare and man-machine collaborative diagnosis services, develop precision medicine and new pharmaceuticals, and provide new-generation medical service systems and smart hospital facilities.This is the focus of discussions at the 2018 Smart Medicine Forum recently held in Taipei - the 9th edition of forum jointly organized by Digitimes and National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH). The event attracted more than 600 attendees.A research report released by MarketsandMarkets indicates that business opportunities arising from AI applications to medical services will expand at a CAGR of over 52% in the coming five years to reach US$8 billion.At the forum, Digitimes president Colley Hwang cited statistics as saying that Taiwan now has 490 hospitals, 34,000 sick beds, 22,000 clinic houses, 8,000 pharmacies and 35,000 pharmacists. To build smart medicine ecosystems, Hwang continued, Taiwan can leverage the cloud-based core health insurance databank to connect professional social networks, dedicated databases, local-type data centers, maker bases, hospitals and international medical institutions, so as to create cross-industry AI-based medicine ecosystems integrating personal data, 5G+video, startup alliances, as well as industry and academic sectors.Fast integration of AI, medicineCJ Yu, vice superintendent of NTUH, noted that medicine and AI are actually undergoing fast integration in three specific aspects. First is preventive medicine, utilizing mass human behaviors and data to work out more effective advices on health management. Second is digital medicine, mainly adopting AI to judge image information when applied to improve healthcare procedures. Third is precision medicine, referring to personalized medical services. Yu said that Taiwan's medical industry will see close integration of software and hardware to achieve smart medical services.Quanta Computer chairman Barry Lam also opined that the ultimate goal of AI+ medicine will be to let everybody get high-quality medical care. In recent two years, many countries have been actively proceeding with AI strategic deployments, with Japan, for instance, planning to set up 10 AI-based hospitals by 2022.Lam said that Taiwan's medicine industry has its own advantages, and can build smart hospital architectures based on IoT big data. He disclosed Quanta is cooperating with the National Cheng Kung University Hospital in southern Taiwan to develop a hospital dedicated to serving elderly patients, by providing relevant IoT solutions.At the forum, many Taiwan tech firms have presented diverse AI application solutions for medical services. Advantech, for instance, offers a new software-hardware integrated solution aimed at helping hospitals create a smart patients management platform; Macronix International presents plans to explore business opportunities for memory application to smart medical devices; and WiAdvance Technology focuses on utilizing AI to automate service flows at hospitals.2018 Smart Medicine ForumPhoto: Digitimes, September 2018

IoT applications will see brand-new development after 5G technologies and applications enter commercial runs in 2019, and all IoT devices must feature low power consumption and high stability to secure smooth operations in diverse environments. In line with the trend, Taiwan's memory supplier Macronix International has rolled out the cutting-edge 1.2V MX25S SPI NOR series to meet the market demand, according to the firm's senior marketing manager HJ Kuo.Macronix's 1.2V MX25S SPI NOR series boasts extremely low power consumption, consuming only 0.007uA in the state of deep power down, compared to power consumption of 0.2uA for 1.8V and 3uA for 3V. In addition, under the operating mode, power consumption runs only one tenth that of 1.8V, according to Kuo.Kuo said that unlike 2G to 4G applications featuring transmission of voices, images and various data mainly through smartphones, 5G will allow telecom operators to extend services to a variety of new areas beyond smartphones through its features including high speed transmission, high coverage rate and low latency.She continued that 5G IoT will make everything in the world become "smart X," expanding from man-man and man-things linkages to things-things connections and finally building the architectures of smart cities, with big data generated to be developed into more digitalized application services.In terms of system equipment needed to support 5G IoT applications, power-saving, miniaturization and high quality will be the top three concerns for equipment makers in seeking supply chain partners. The requirements are also applicable to relevant memory solutions, Kuo indicated.HJ Kuo, senior marketing manager at Macronix InternationalPhoto: Digitimes file photo

Macronix International Co., Ltd. (TSE: 2337), a leading integrated device manufacturer in the non-volatile memory (NVM) market, today announced the introduction of an ultra-low-voltage SPI NOR flash MX25S working at 1.2V, marking a new milestone in its process technology and low power consumption product offerings. This addition to the Macronix product portfolio allows cost savings and layout simplicity, and represents an important step in the company's expansion into the smart healthcare application and wearable device market segments.Advanced semiconductor fabrication technologies continue to set records of transistor counts on a silicon chip while also pushing for higher energy efficiency. The introduction of Macronix' new SPI NOR 1.2V low-voltage flash process technology further extends the company's range of solutions, which also includes high-performance 8 I/O OctaFlash Serial NOR, featuring the industry's fastest 500MB/s data transfer rate and 250MHz operating frequency."Across markets, we continue to see the rapid development of applications with ultra-low power consumption, and this bodes well for the industry," stated Donald Huang, Ph.D., deputy director of product marketing at Macronix. "Foundries are now making integrated circuits largely on 40nm and more advanced process nodes supporting the widespread availability of semiconductor solutions with ultra-low voltage, ultra-low power consumption and miniature package. This, in turn, further drives the creation of a plethora of new smart healthcare applications and wearable devices for an array of market segments."New semiconductor processes continue to improve performance and reduce power consumption, boosting the popularity of smart applications and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. With digital healthcare, wearables and mobile device adoption continuing to proliferate, the industry is turning to advanced technologies - beyond what the most advanced lithium-ion battery can offer currently, and capable of working at no more than 1.5V - to extend battery life and reduce battery size for these applications. With most memory modules - such as Double-Data-Rate Fourth Generation Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (DDR4) now operating at 1.2V - the move toward low-voltage memory is further bolstered.Low-voltage NOR flash operating at 1.2V enables both cost reduction and design simplicity"The use of 1.2V low-voltage NOR flash eliminates the need for some components and flexibly accommodates a wider selection of collaborating MCU, which directly translates to cost savings and layout simplicity," added Huang. "In combination with MCU, DRAM and sensors working at low voltages, the new low-voltage flash will significantly broaden the range of applications for Macronix memory, perfectly complementing its line of low-voltage products."Macronix's new series of 1.2V serial NOR flash MX25S supports the standard serial NOR flash interface and features low voltage, low power consumption and miniature package. Covering an operating voltage range from 1.14V to 1.3V, MX25S saves more than 60 percent of power consumption, making it suitable for any ultra-low voltage application and allowing prolonged operation of portable devices.To enhance the energy efficiency of its memory products during ultra-low power standby mode, Macronix reduced the deep power down current of the MX25S series to 0.007 microamps. It takes only 35 microseconds to wake up MX25S from the deep power down mode, and active current during normal operation can be as low as 1.65 mA, which is the most impressive NOR flash spec on the market.MX25S supports multi-I/O and suspend/resume operations. In addition to unique ID and secure OTP for data protection, MX25S covers the most popular memory features on the market. The MX25S series is planned with density offerings ranging from 512Kb to 64Mb with an initial focus on 4Mb to 16Mb models, and is available in ultra-miniature packages including WLCSP, WSON, USON and SOP as well as Known Good Die (KGD) for use in MCU. For example, a 16Mb MX25S 1.2V NOR flash comes in a variety of packages ranging from a 41 mm2 8-pin SOP package to a mini 3.1 mm2 WLCSP package to meet diverse application requirements.Engineering samples of MX25S are now available to customers for design verification. Macronix plans to kick off full-scale production by the end of the first quarter of 2018."With advancing developments in low-voltage process technologies, Macronix will continue to augment its product portfolio of low-voltage memory and step up efforts to capture opportunities arising from smart healthcare applications and wearable devices featuring ultra-high energy efficiency," concluded Huang.Find out more about Macronix 1.2V NOR Flash at www.macronix.com.Donald Huang, Ph.D., deputy director of product marketing at MacronixPhoto: CompanyMacronix 1.2V NOR flash aims for smart healthcare and wearable devices market segments.Photo: Company

Prices of memory chips, including dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) and all types of flash memory, have rallied throughout 2017, buoying the business value of five of the top 10 semiconductor companies that design and manufacture chips. American and Korean players have long dominated the memory market and none of them is willing to start a price war. Accordingly, memory prices will likely continue to trend upward as the 2018 market outlook remains positive.The memory industry is characterized by boom and bust cycles resulting from the tug of war between market demand and production capacity. Aside from DRAM and 3D NAND, which require advanced fabrication facilities, industry players are no longer so readily building new semiconductor plants, but are instead offering combinations of different memory products to strike a delicate demand-supply balance.Amid the memory industry's explosive growth, Martin Lin, director, marketing center, Macronix, a Taiwan-based company specializing in the design and manufacture of non-volatile memory, recently gave a look into the flash memory market's recent turbulent changes and what its future holds.Widening gap between non-volatile memory supply and demandThe supply of non-volatile memory is experiencing significant changes. According to Lin, "Surging market demand is no doubt one of the factors that drives up memory costs. However, supply shortages play an even more influential role."Most flash memory manufacturers shy away from investing in new plants because construction of a 12-inch wafer fab costs at least NT$100 billion. Manufacturers will only consider investments in new plants for popular memory chips used in solid state drives (SSD) and smartphones, which can create a market value of more than US$50 billion per year and not for low-density memory, which accounts for a less than 5 percent share of the market value.Furthermore, the introduction of the first iPhone in 2007 completely changed the consumer electronics industry. Smartphones, with their widespread availability, have replaced once-popular electronics such as digital cameras, MP3 players, handheld game consoles and personal video players. Lin pointed out that excess supply of NOR flash reached a new high in 2013, causing memory prices to crash. Leading suppliers therefore chose to exit the low-density memory market and shifted focus to mainstream products such as 3D NAND flash.The world now has fewer than five remaining fab plants capable of producing low-density flash memory. What's worse is that manufacturers that used to be able to switch production between 2D NAND and DRAM no longer have this flexibility as they gradually upgrade equipment to 3D NAND production. As a result, the production capacity of flash memory can no longer return to previous levels. Supply has begun to lag behind demand and prices have been on the rise since 2016.Innovative applications revitalize opportunities for low-density flash memoryLin then talked about demand-side changes. After years of development, IoT applications began to flourish in late 2016 with a plethora of never-before-seen uses growing rapidly, and driven by smart city and smart home trends. These emerging applications using low-density flash memory (SLC NAND and NOR Flash) are throwing supply and demand further off balance. For example, shared bikes use low- to mid-density NOR flash for GPS positioning. Home appliances including refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and even vacuum cleaners and coffee makers are starting to come with IoT communication modules. In addition, new-generation smartphone displays such as AMOLED panels and SiP solutions (MCU+KGD), which replace embedded flash memory in MCU, both call for an extra supply of flash memory.An interesting example of application is the new smart electronic cigarette, which needs memory in order to work closely with a smartphone to gather data and keep track of the user's smoking habits. Around 10 million smart electronic cigarettes have been shipped in 2017 and 25 million units are expected in 2018 according to customer forecasts. The much sought-after smart speakers also use a large amount of SLC flash in low-end and mid-range models. As such, Lin expects low-density flash memory will continue to be in short supply through 2018.Quality sets Macronix apart from competitionThe world is closely watching the rise of China's semiconductor supply chain. Although China is building semiconductor plants on a large scale, product quality cannot be established overnight. Lin notes that Macronix is committed to perfecting its product quality and focused on serving the needs of international brands known for providing premium quality products and cutting edge applications. Macronix has landed orders from iconic world-class customers across sectors encompassing automotive electronics, telecommunication equipment, enterprise-level network systems, factory automation and smart healthcare thanks to the outstanding Macronix brand image built through solid product quality. It is able to fully leverage its brand advantage and stand strong against China's rising supply chain as vendors engaging in price wars pose no threat to Macronix.Looking ahead to future developments in the coming years, the market will continue to face a supply shortage in low-density memory and will not be able to fill the gap in the near term. In response to this, Macronix will enhance its customer service and satisfy customer needs with its production capacity. It will also step up efforts in the automotive memory market with a goal of taking a 50 percent market share.However, first and foremost, Macronix will strive to perfect production quality. With over two decades of refinement in production quality and capacity, Macronix has built a management system for quality control flows that include quick problem identification, reliable error detection and instant troubleshooting using internally-developed systems and analysis approaches. Quality control statistics gathered from shipments to European, American and Japanese customers over the years show that Macronix's quality has improved from being measured in parts per million (PPM) to parts per billion (PPB) in 2017. This will further help Macronix establish leadership in the automotive memory market.Lin emphasized that a growing number of electronics are being used in automobiles, such as advanced driver assist systems (ADAS), telematics systems and Internet of Vehicles (IoV) devices. In addition to high-density NOR flash that is already widely used, adoption of SLC NAND flash is increasingly common as well. Macronix is the world's first supplier capable of providing fully AEC-Q100-compliant SLC NAND flash for automotive use and is shipping such products to major tier-1 automotive electronics suppliers around the world. Further growth is expected for 2018 and beyond with new cars coming on the market.Professional non-volatile memory provider offers a complete product lineup and one-stop serviceMacronix has enjoyed soaring growth in 2017 with total revenues to top US$1 billion and expects future revenues to further ramp up with contributions from automotive electronics, factory automation and emerging embedded applications continuingly setting new records. Currently holding the largest market share of NOR flash and ROM and the third largest market share of SLC NAND flash commonly used in embedded systems, Macronix will have its new eMMC line ready for volume shipments in 2018. Meeting the needs of mainstream applications such as embedded systems, Macronix eMMC is poised to become an important product line in 2019 and open up additional business opportunities for the company.In terms of capacity expansion plans, Macronix looks to upgrade the production of low- and mid-density NOR flash to advanced fab process so as to boost output per wafer, which can raise capacity by 20 to 30 percent. Research and development on the next generation 48nm node is also close to completion.Macronix currently produces SLC NAND flash using 3x nm technologies, which accounts for 15 to 20 percent of the SLC NAND flash market. Its share of the global SLC NAND flash market will likely exceed 30 percent within the next few years as it advances to 1x nm process. With capacity expansion projects falling into place, coupled with agile planning in market differentiation and product applications, Macronix can maintain a level of price stability and demonstrate optimal brand value. This will enable Macronix to help customers maximize business success as it takes advantage of industry reshuffle and rises to the top.Martin Lin, director of marketing center, Macronix.Macronix ramps up efforts to gain market share in embedded non-volatile memory.

According to Digitimes Research, the global production capacity of 3D NAND flash in 2017 is expected to show a whopping 118% increase from 2016 and the yearly growth in 2018 is also likely to top 64%. Although memory vendors from Korea, Japan and the US are scrambling to join the game, due to slow improvement in production yield, the worldwide flash memory market is still experiencing a supply shortage and rising costs as the limited supply cannot keep up with the demand.Due to the promising development of 3D NAND flash, memory chips produced with the new fabrication process start from a high density of 128Gb and even 256Gb in 2017. Low density 64Gb flash chips are hard to find and even lower density 32Gb flash chips will soon to be discontinued. Bono Yuan, deputy manager, product marketing, Macronix, pointed out in an interview that the shortage of low density flash memory has the most significant impact on the embedded system market.Low density eMMC flash memory are needed in a wide range of embedded system applications, including smart TV, set-top boxes, networking equipment, surveillance systems, smart wearable devices, burgeoning smart IoT devices and Industry 4.0 IIoT applications.Flash memory for data storage is available in different standards, including CF, MMC, SM and SD. Among these, the eMMC standard (derived from MMC) is the most suitable for use as embedded memory - originally designed for smartphones and tablets. The simplified memory design integrates the NAND flash chip with the controller chip in a MCP package, which saves component footprint on the PCB, and improves system security and data integrity. As such, eMMC memory has gradually become a memory solution of choice in embedded systems.eMMC memory in embedded applications is mainly used for high capacity code storage, i.e. operating systems and application programs, which differs from that for smartphones and tablets. Memory vendors often overlook such requirement. To meet the embedded application demand, Macronix is introducing a series of low to medium density eMMC memory to fill the memory gap.Three major advantages and guaranteed five-year availability make Macronix eMMC memory the top choice for embedded systemsThe two key components in eMMC memory are the NAND flash and the controller chip, both of which Macronix developed with its own independent R&D. Macronix eMMC memory series has three major advantages. First of all, Macronix eMMC memory is available in 1GB, 2GB, 4GB and 8GB densities in a standard 153-ball BGA package, offering system architects better options for their embedded system designs, and potentially lowering their system cost.Furthermore, Macronix eMMC memory can save system architectures time needed to spend on product design, development and testing. This is particularly valuable to industrial control system manufacturers that have to deal with extreme and special requirements. For example, video surveillance systems often need to write a large amount of data in a short period of time so the firmware needs to be optimized. In fact, Macronix’s extensive experience in embedded systems can be leveraged to help system architects to easily deal with their special applications and use cases. Macronix’s expertise in engineering design and technical support for NAND flash, controller chips and firmware is what differentiates its eMMC memory from other memory vendors. Customers that choose Macronix eMMC memory will be able to take advantage of solid semiconductor fabrication and access to critical software and firmware support.Macronix eMMC memory is offered in a standard 11.5x13mm, 153-ball BGA package. However, the third advantage is that the 1GB and 2GB eMMC modules is also offered in an even smaller 9x9 mm, 153-ball BGA package, allowing use in space limited applications, such as wearable devices. Both 11.5x13mm and 9x0mm BGA packages are footprint compatible.To further meet embedded systems’ requirements in terms of product quality and reliability, Macronix eMMC memory has enhanced write endurance, data integrity,, and power failure protection features. Macronix also guarantees a minimum of five-year availability for its eMMC memory; considering that typical embedded systems such as smart appliances and IIoT devices usually have very long service life. Macronix ensures continuing supply of its semiconductor solutions so that manufacturers can benefit from the longer product lifecycle. This also paves the way for memory products targeting automotive applications, which Macronix is planning to begin next year in its second phase of development.Macronix effectively leverages its own fabrication capacity and technology to provide eMMC products with high quality, high reliability, long-term availability and support. In terms of the delivery timeline, 4GB eMMC memory will be available for sampling in the fourth quarter of 2017. 1GB and 2GB eMMC memories will begin sampling in the second quarter of 2018.Bono Yuan, deputy manager, product marketing, MXICMacronix's new eMMC solution for emerging embedded applications.