Phoenix Semiconductor Philippines Corp (PSPC) has put into high gear its manufacturing system for the production of the next-generation DDR4 platform of dynamic random access modules (DRAM) and flip-chip memory devices. 

Fresh from the renewal of its strategic partnership pact with Samsung Electronics Ltd. last May, PSPC has completed installation of new DDR4 technology compliant manufacturing lines supplied by Korean technology giant in its state-of-the-art plant in Clark Freeport in Pampanga.  “We are pleased by the fresh vote of confidence by Samsung on the Company which deepens our relationship with them and puts our production processes at par with the most advanced in the world,” PSPC President Byeongchun Lee said.

Samsung – the world’s largest manufacturer of branded semiconductor memory products – contracted PSPC as its preferred semiconductor assembly and test (SAT) partner to mass produce DRAM using proprietary interface and die stacking technology and the new 10 nm process. The DDR4 supports data transfer rate of 3,200 megabits per second and is 30 percent faster than the DDR3.

Mr. Lee explained that PSPC has put on line Samsung’s consigned equipment worth $4.13 million which enabled the full ramp-up of assembly and packaging of Samsung branded next-generation DRAM dual inline memory modules (DIMM) and flip chips (FC). The equipment belongs to a class of one-of-a-kind, high-technology?¢æ? first?¢æ? generation in-line machines in the country. 

In line with the DDR4 technology, the Company has enabled the production of the secured-digital (SD) flash memory cards based on Samsung’s 3D vertical NAND flash memory technology. The 3D V-NAND innovation results in high-density drive that improved from traditional planar NAND by vertically stacking more cells to pack more memory into the same space.

In terms of production capacity, PSPC’s new in-line DDR4 equipment is designed to manufacture 38 million DRAMs per month, which is a 73 percent increase in manufacturing efficiency compared with old FC DDR3 machines. 

Test production of DDR4 began in the fourth quarter of 2015. With the new FC equipment coming on line in the first quarter of 2016, it recorded production of 18 million DDR4 memory components with plans to increase to 17 million in July. 

The Company pointed out that it is now producing two lines of DDR4-class DRAM:  the Error Correction Code (ECC) category and the non-ECC category. ECC Memory. However, the non-ECC doesn’t have such function.  

The ECC DRAM detects and reports memory errors and can actually correct it without interrupting other operations of the system or without the user intervention, and are used for high end computing systems, servers and critical applications that require extra security and stability. Since it works extra steps that prevents errors, it is a bit slower in performance by 3 percent compared with non-ECC which are for regular applications like for gaming consoles, PC, laptops and other devices.

Based on its module production output from last January to May, PSPC’s DDR4 production consisted 25 percent ECC and 75 percent non-ECC. 

PSPC cited that exports of electronic products increased by 8.1 percent with total receipts of $2.131 billion last February from $1.971 billion registered in the same period in 2015. This maintained electronic products’ status as the Philippines’ top export, accounting for 49.4 percent of the total exports revenue in February 2016.

PSPC, which is listed in the Philippine stock market, is one of the country’s top semiconductor products manufacturers and exporters with specialization in solid state memory devices. It shipped out US$325 million worth of semiconductors in the first quarter of 2016.