Samsung's memory chip, MoviNAND

Samsung Electronics on Monday said it has developed a high-density, eight-gigabyte memory chip dubbed the moviNAND which it will begin mass-producing in the second quarter of the year.

The moviNAND consists of a NAND flash memory chip and a multimedia card controller. The new product provides twice the capacity and performance of a 4GB version and will enable electronics makers to develop smaller mobile devices in a wider variety of designs.

The moviNAND follows the standards for high-density embedded flash memory applications developed by the JEDEC (Joint Electron Device Engineering Council) and MMCA (MultiMediaCard Association.)

The value of the total market volume of the new product is predicted to reach about US$4 billion over the next four years. Samsung expects the moviNAND will gain popularity with cellphone and navigator makers with its high-density, high-speed, but low-noise performance.