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Samsung Electronics claims that it is "leading the industry shift" from DDR1 (Double Data Rate 1) to DDR2 main memory.

About 40% of Samsung's total Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) output was DDR2, and about 30% was DDR1 as of July. This would be the first month that DDR2 production was more than DDR1.

The advantages of DDR2 for desktops, servers, workstations and notebooks are faster speeds, better signal integrity, improved thermal characteristics, and reduced power consumption.

"The industry has been waiting for a clear indication that DDR2 has become the dominant memory for EDP (electronic data processing) applications including computing and this is it," said Tom Quinn, senior vice president, memory sales and marketing, Samsung Semiconductor.

"We are seeing an upsurge in interest in DDR2 from system OEMs as well as system integrators, something that will continue to accelerate into 2006," added Quinn.

According to a press release from Samsung, the 1.8-volt JEDEC-compliant memory features high-speed data transfer rates of 667 Mbps or 533 Mbps, and will be offered in an 800 Mbps version by early next year. Pricing has dropped to where the cost of DDR2 is essentially on par with DDR1 on a per bit basis.

Right now, Samsung is producing 256, 512 Mb and 1 Gb versions of DDR2 at 533 Mbps, plus 256 and 512 Mb versions of its new DDR2-667 memory.

"DDR2 market penetration may not have been quite as fast as some expected, but it's accelerating rapidly now, spiking demand for higher performance to drive increased unit sales of PCs, notebooks and servers," said Victor De Dios, president of DRAM market analyst firm DE DIOS & ASSOCIATES.

Sales of DDR2 memory are expected to climb from $1.5 billion in 2004, to $6.5 billion this year, and up to $18 billion next year, according to the firm.

Chris is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.