ReRAM to lead MRAM in emerging memory market

Market news | June 5, 2023

By Peter Clarke

MEMORY & DATA STORAGE MATERIALS & PROCESSES

ReRAM will lead MRAM in the fast-growing emerging non-volatile memory market, according to Yole Group.

The emerging non-volatile memory market is the market for those technologies that can replace flash memory and divides into stand-alone discrete parts and embedded memory. The three primary technologies are resistive RAM (ReRAM), magnetic RAM (MRAM) and phase-change memory (PCM).

The stand-alone part of this market, where there is competition from 3D-NAND flash is not growing. However, the embedded part, due to the absence of embedded flash memory below 40nm, is growing rapidly.

By 2028 Yole Group estimates the stand-alone emerging non-volatile memory (ENVM) annual revenues will reach about US$300 million.

However, the embedded non-volatile memory annual revenue will be about US$2.7 billion with a compound annual growth rate of 133 percent over the period 2022 to 2028.

Intel’s confirmation of the end of Optane development, which is based on phase-change memory was a blow to the prospects of the stand-alone emerging NVM market (see Intel’s Optane memory business lost more than $500 million in 2020).

Yole forecasts that by 2028 more than 1 million 12’’ equivalent wafers per year will be manufactured by foundries using manufacturing processes that incorporate embedded PCM, ReRAM, or MRAM, with a CAGR of 94 percent between 2022 and 2028.

This would create a market worth approximately $2.7 billion, with ReRAM accounting for around 60 percent of the wafer volumeand MRAM representing approximately 25 percent. Key applications will include embedded NVM for microcontrollers and analog ICs, with around 450K and 420K wafers produced per year, respectively, Yole said.https://www.eenewseurope.com/en/reram-to-lead-mram-in-emerging-memory-market/