Samsung announces new, thinner microchip

Samsung Electronics Co. said in a statement Wednesday it has developed a one-gigabit mobile DRAM chip that is 20 percent thinner and uses less power than its predecessor.

Samsung said the new mobile memory chip stacks up two 512-megabit chips and uses about 30 percent less power.

"Samsung plans to mass produce the new device beginning in the second quarter of 2007 at a time when demand for high-density 1-gigabit mobile DRAM is expected to be very high," said the press release.

The new semiconductor can be utilized for a wide range of advanced handset applications as well as for digital still cameras, portable media players and portable gaming products, the company said.

DRAM stands for dynamic random access memory. DRAM chips are most widely used in personal computers.

Samsung is the world's largest memory chip maker and a top producer of consumer electronics, including flat-screen televisions, mobile phone handsets, MP3 players and laptop computers.