South Korean semiconductor manufacturers are now recognised to be at the leading edge to the extent that they have received the doubtful accolade of an anti-dumping investigation from the European Commission, and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd reckons that it has taken the lead over Japan in advanced memory chips. According to Reuter, Samsung says it will start sampling its first 64M-bit memory chip – a part with 64nS access time – in 1994, pitching for volume in 1995, when it is expected to cost around $600. Samsung reckons that Japanese companies are not so far along in developing 64Ms. The Seoul company makes 7m to 8m 1M-bit dynamics a month, making it the world’s largest producer, and is shelling out 4Ms at a rate of 4m a month, putting it third behind Toshiba Corp and Hitachi Ltd.
