Executive Summary

  • Recovery: 8세대 BiCS FLASH 기술의 핵심

Strategic Deep-Dive

Key Aspects of 8th Generation BiCS FLASH Technology

The 8th generation BiCS FLASH technology, featured in Kioxia’s EG7 series, represents a revolutionary achievement in significantly boosting data processing speeds while storing 4 bits per cell (QLC). QLC necessitates differentiating between 16 subtle voltage levels, making its design far more complex and potentially slower than the existing 8-level TLC. To overcome this, Kioxia introduced precise sensing and programming algorithms in the 8th generation architecture.

These algorithms detect voltage changes more quickly and accurately, minimizing the read/write latency inherent in QLC and, as a result, achieving response speeds comparable to TLC.

Overcoming the Limitations of QLC with Performance Metrics

The EG7 series maintains the high data density of QLC while delivering significantly improved power efficiency and stability compared to previous generations. While past QLC SSDs suffered from a chronic issue of drastically reduced speeds once the cache memory was exhausted during large-scale write operations, the EG7 dramatically reduces this performance degradation through enhanced firmware optimization. Particularly in devices with limited physical space, such as slim laptops, where it’s difficult to incorporate multiple NAND chips, a single chip can now simultaneously satisfy the demands for high performance and large capacity.

This will likely contribute to a shift in consumer perception, viewing QLC as not merely a ‘cheap storage device,’ but as a viable ‘main OS drive.’

Economic Impact on the OEM Market and Laptop Manufacturers

From a manufacturer’s perspective, the EG7 series is an optimal solution for reducing Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). Competing with Samsung’s QVO lineup, this product allows for the integration of higher capacity SSDs at the same manufacturing cost, providing a strong competitive advantage in the value-oriented laptop market. In particular, it is highly likely to establish itself as the mainstream storage device replacing TLC in the enterprise laptop and entry-level consumer PC OEM markets.

Manufacturers can now secure product competitiveness by offering 2TB or more capacity at the price of 1TB, which is predicted to further accelerate the global trend of higher capacity SSDs.