Samsung to End LPDDR4X Memory Orders After 10 Years, Pushing Industry to LPDDR5

Samsung Electronics has officially stopped taking new orders for its LPDDR4 and LPDDR4X mobile DRAM, signaling the end of a decade-long era for the mainstream memory chips and accelerating an industry-wide shift to the next generation. The move forces major customers like Qualcomm to revise long-term procurement plans and redesign future chips around the LPDDR5 standard, which offers a roughly 50 percent performance boost.

"We have already secured the LPDDR DRAM we need for this year, but our next-generation chips will be designed for the upgraded memory specifications," an industry source said, reflecting a broader sentiment among clients who must now manage the transition from depleting inventories.

The performance gap between the two generations is significant. LPDDR5 memory features a maximum data transfer rate of 6.4 Gbps, a substantial increase from the 4.3 Gbps ceiling of LPDDR4X. This difference will create performance tiers in some product lines. For example, Samsung's own Exynos 1330 application processor supports both standards, meaning different production batches of the same phone model, like the Galaxy A17, could ship with different memory specifications and performance profiles.

For investors, the end-of-life (EOL) designation for LPDDR4X is a key indicator of Samsung's broader strategy to exit lower-margin legacy products and concentrate capital on more advanced, profitable process nodes. The transition aligns with ongoing facility conversions at its Hwaseong campus, where production lines are being retooled for cutting-edge logic chips, and will be a critical factor in Samsung's medium-term competitiveness in the memory market.

The order window for the older memory chips remained open longer than many industry observers had expected, a direct result of sustained demand from customers. While this allowed clients to build up a considerable stockpile, it also delayed Samsung's timeline for converting the production lines, which is now scheduled to begin in the first quarter of next year. Production will continue through the end of 2024 to fulfill the final batch of existing orders.

Automotive Sector Accelerates LPDDR5 Adoption

The ripple effect extends beyond smartphones and laptops into the automotive sector. Telechips, a fabless company specializing in semiconductors for Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) and In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI), confirmed it is shifting its chip designs to support LPDDR5 and LPDDR5X. The move, driven by requests from its own automotive clients, shows the performance demands of next-generation vehicles are necessitating the switch to faster memory.

From Memory to Advanced Logic

This strategic pivot is not happening in isolation. Samsung is concurrently retooling multiple facilities to focus on more advanced manufacturing. A notable example is the plan to convert its Line 12 facility in Hwaseong, South Korea, from producing 2D NAND flash memory into a specialized "End Fab." This revamped line will handle the final metal interconnect stages for the company's 1c DRAM, a process node that currently represents a significant production bottleneck for Samsung. By retiring older memory lines like LPDDR4X, the company frees up valuable manufacturing capacity and engineering resources to pour into these more advanced and strategically vital technologies.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.