On April 17th, Micron announced the successful mass production of 232-layer QLC NAND flash and has begun shipping to specific key SSD customers. This revolutionary flash product targets not only consumer-level clients but also provides robust support for enterprise storage customers and OEM manufacturers, including the Micron 2500 NVMe SSD.
Micron emphasizes that this four-level cell NAND flash innovation represents a significant breakthrough in the industry, reaching unprecedented levels of layering and density. This new type of flash not only achieves higher storage density and design flexibility compared to traditional NAND flash but also effectively reduces access time, providing smoother experiences for various applications.
Micron's 232-layer QLC NAND flash offers unparalleled performance for diverse storage needs such as mobile, client, automotive, edge computing, and data centers. With the highest bit density globally, it boasts a 30% increase in density compared to the previous generation 176-layer QLC NAND flash.
Structurally, this new product also demonstrates significant advantages, with a 28% higher compactness than the latest offerings from competitors. Furthermore, Micron's 232-layer QLC NAND flash leads the industry with a blazing I/O interface speed of up to 2400 MT/s, a 50% improvement over the previous generation.
In terms of performance, this new flash is equally impressive. It achieves a 24% increase in read performance and a remarkable 31% increase in write performance compared to the previous generation 176-layer QLC NAND flash. These enhancements make Micron's 232-layer QLC NAND flash a standout in the market.
Notably, Bill Cerreta, General Manager of Pure Storage, a renowned provider of storage solutions and custom enterprise SSD devices, has highly praised Micron's new product. He stated that Micron's 232-layer QLC NAND flash is a core component of Pure Storage's high-capacity DirectFlash modules, and its exceptional performance will help Pure Storage achieve its ambitious goal of fully replacing mechanical hard drives in data centers by 2028.
