It is customary among users to sneer at a whole series of “pluses” when referring to Intel’s 14-nm process technology. But the refusal of memory manufacturers to specify manufacturing processes for DRAM chips seems to be a larger victim of marketing wars. For eleven years, memory manufacturers have been hiding the exact numbers of the technical processes of memory release, but the truth sometimes comes up and it is shocking.

For the first time we heard about the transition to “classes” when designating the technical process of memory production in April 2010. Then Samsung introduced the concept of “20nm class”, stating this in connection with the announcement of the new NAND memory. This happened, most likely, for the reason that Samsung’s technical process began to lag behind competitors. Soon other manufacturers followed Samsung, and we only heard that about generations of memory of 20-nm and, later, 10-nm classes.

The 10nm class memory has been in production since 2013. What kind of memory it is – 19 nm, 17 nm or less – could only be found from unofficial sources. Micron is rumored to be the farthest down the technology ladder. She allegedly was able to establish in Taiwan either 14-nm DRAM production, or 13-nm. Moreover, in January of this year, Micron struck the industry like a thunderbolt by announcing that it had begun pilot production of memory chips with standards in “the bottom of the 10nm process technology“. This meant that the company was the first to launch DRAM at 13nm or less.

Such a statement was a challenge to the DRAM market leader Samsung, and its representatives could not remain silent for a long time. The other day at a quarterly conference, one of Samsung’s senior executives admitted that the company will start releasing 14 nm DRAM codenamed D1a later this year (most likely in the second half of the year). This recognition is the first in 11 years, which in itself underscores the intense competition in the DRAM market.

According to analysts, it was important for Samsung to make it clear to investors that it is slightly behind Micron in terms of the manufacturability of DRAM chips. Moreover, in a number of ways, it is seriously ahead of the Micron. For example, Micron still uses 193nm scanners for DRAM production, while Samsung D1a generation memory will be produced mainly using 13,5nm EUV scanners. But the fact remains: in Samsung’s 10nm DRAM product class, the center of gravity was at the far end of the scale.