Recently, there was a report that Samsung could be discontinuing production of its LPDDR4 memory. Turns out, the reports were right. In a listing on its website, Samsung has confirmed that both LPDDR4 and LPDDR4X have been discontinued.
Samsung discontinues LPDDR4, LPDDR4X memory
So, now that both types of memory have been discontinued, what is Samsung’s plan moving forwards? According to reports, it is widely expected that the company will repurpose those production lines for newer and faster memory standards, such as LPDDR5.
It’s not surprising that Samsung is moving in this direction. In fact, this is more or less the playbook for all tech. Once a newer standard has been adopted, the older standard starts phasing out. However, in this case, it might have been accelerated due to the AI boom. AI data centers have created a surge in demand for newer and faster memory. In particular, HBM.
This makes perfect sense for companies like Samsung. Not only does it meet the demand, but also because HBM has higher margins, Samsung stands to make more. Samsung isn’t alone in this either. We’re seeing moves by other memory makers like SK Hynix and Micron shift priority to HBM. It is also why we’re seeing an increase in price for electronic products, and why those prices will remain high for the foreseeable future.
What are the implications
Companies adopting and moving forward with new tech in their products are to be expected. However, not all devices need to have the latest or greatest hardware. This is why Samsung’s decision to discontinue LPDDR4 and LPDDR4X could have serious implications.
This is because lower-end devices, like phones, do not use newer and more expensive memory. Also, LPDDR4/4X is used in single-board computers, IoT devices, and even some handheld gaming consoles. Without being able to access older memory, these companies will be forced to buy newer and pricier RAM.Â
In turn, it could result in prices going up even further. The upside is that devices that use LPDDR5 will probably see a meaningful improvement in performance. But then again, performance might not be high in priority for someone shopping for a cheap smartphone or laptop.
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