What is Green Memory? Less Energy, More Speed

CIOs of 100 prominent Korean companies participate in Samsung Semiconductor CIO Forum 2010

Samsung Electronics is stepping up its “green memory” marketing blitzkrieg as part of its efforts to publicize itself as a company committed to implementing environmentally-friendly policies and share strategies for coping with climate change.
The global memory chip leader’s so-called green marketing strategy, which targets its corporate clients, is designed to imbue its corporate image as an environmentally-friendly, green oriented company by responding to environmental issues at a fast pace, business sources said. It may be construed as a move by the Korean electronics maker to differentiate itself from other competitors by following low-power trends in the manufacturing of mobile computing devices, including PCs, servers and smartphones. Samsung Electronics said the paradigm of the global memory industry is shifting from a drop in unit prices arising from the existing mass-production and precision processing into a low-power, green-oriented one with excellent performance.
“If 32 million servers around the world are fitted with 30-nano DDR3 DRAMs, it could save 8 trillion won in electricity charges, an equivalent of reducing 68 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions yearly or planting approximately 7 billion trees,” said Jun Dong-soo, executive vice president of strategic marketing at the Memory Division of Samsung Electronics.
Samsung Electronics organized the Samsung Semiconductor CIO Forum 2010 at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul on Nov. 5 by inviting 100 chief information officers of the nation’s 100 most prominent companies.
Jun made the remark while delivering a speech at the forum under the theme “Energy Efficiency Improvement in Server Systems and Green Memory’s Effects.” He maintained that the servers containing 30-nano DDR3 DRAMs could save energy consumption by 44 percent compared to the conventional 60-nano ones, and if 32 million servers adopt the latest memory chip, it could save 95TW in electricity consumption per year ― having the effect of reducing 7.9 trillion won in electricity charges by counting 83.6 won per kW of electricity according to KEPCO’s average rates.
Last July, Samsung Electronics became the world’s first company to mass-produce low power 40-nano DDR3 DRAMs, which can run on 1.35 volts. The Korean electronics maker has joined the green memory campaign along with global server makers, including HP. The campaign has helped Samsung Electronics see its market share shoot up. Samsung Electronics’ first mass-production of 30nano DDR3 DRAMs, which can reduce electricity consumption by more than 15 percent, compared to 40-nano class ones, will widen its competitive pull with its Japanese and American competitors, including Micron of the United States, Elpida Memory Inc. of Japan and Taiwanese DRAM makers, which have not yet developed 30-nano class DDR3 DRAMs.
Park Tae-wan, deputy director of electronics and IT industries at the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, gave a keynote speech under the theme “The direction of the Government’s IT Policies.
Chang Soon-yul, managing director of the global market intelligence firm IDC, also spoke about recent IT trends and efficiency issues of data centers, while Suh Jung-shik, managing director of KT, lectured on KT’s data center strategies. Chun In-ho, executive director of HP Korea, introduced green solutions for green data centers.
Samsung Electronics gave an explanation on the strong points of the realization of the latest 30-nano DDR3 DRAMs and SSD products for servers.
The joint meeting of officials from firms related to the efficient operation of servers ― the market survey firm IDC, server producer HP, component maker Samsung Electronics ― all in one place was a boon for establishing green IT strategies by sharing information on the latest environmentally-friendly trends and strategies.
Kim Young-joon, director of HP Korea, said “If our company, the producer of diverse IT devices, including PCs and servers, adopts Samsung Electronics’ green memory, it will have such strong points as the conserving of energy and contributing to protecting the environment of the earth.” nw

Jun Dong-soo, executive vice president of strategic marketing at the Memory Division of Samsung Electronics, delivers a speech on the strengths of green memory at the Samsung Semiconductor CIO forum 2010.