Micron 16GB DRAM memory chip

Micron's move is seen as an "aggressive" market play by Shane Rau, a chip industry analyst at IDC.

"It is in keeping with how server makers are keeping up with demand for memory," Rau said. The forecast for the average amount of memory capacity in mid-range servers shipped by the end of 2006 is 38GB, up 60 percent from an average 24GB in 2005, he said, citing IDC research.

While Micron's new module is the densest in the industry to date, Rau anticipated that "it will be closely followed by other competitors."

Micron's rivals in the memory module market include Munich-based Qimonda, Hynix Semiconductor of South Korea, and Samsung Electronics of Japan.

Micron sells to server manufacturers. Some of Micron's customers are evaluating samples of the 16GB memory modules. Commercial availability of the product is slated for later this year, the company said.