Seoul (Korea) - Samsung claims that it has developed the world's first mobile DRAM chip with a density of 1 Gbit. The 80 nm low-power DDR device is aimed for integration in handheld devices such as digital cameras or portable media players.

According to the manufacturer, the chip is about 20% thinner than previous generations, which allows for more headroom when stacking the memory. Also, the company claims that power consumption is down about 30% "over conventional memory chip designs."

Samsung plans to make the 1 Gb chip available in volume in Q2 of next year. The company did not say which capacities will be marketed, but the firm indicated that the new technology enables the firm to manufacture "a single high-density package solution of 1.5 Gb or even 2 Gb Mobile DRAM memory."

Competitor Qimonda recently announced a 183 MHz version of its 512 Mb mobile DDR chip (DDR-366). Samsung did not reveal the clock speed of its new mobile memory.