Qualcomm to start using Samsung’s LPDDR6X memory in its chips
By Maya Collins
Samsung appears to be making a strong comeback in the memory chip market. Following its recent announcement on mass production of sixth-generation HBM4 memory, designed for Nvidia’s Rubin AI accelerators, it’s now revealed that the South Korean tech giant has already sent samples of its LPDDR6X chips to Qualcomm for use in next-generation processors.
Reports indicate Samsung Electronics has handed over LPDDR6X memory samples to Qualcomm, intended for chips slated to launch in the second half of 2027. This move is unusual, given that Samsung hasn’t even begun commercial production of LPDDR6 yet, and LPDDR6X itself is still in development.
Industry insiders suggest Samsung’s LPDDR6X could power not only upcoming mobile and automotive processors from Qualcomm but also AI250 accelerators aimed at data centers. The AI250 system is expected to leverage over 1000 GB of LPDDR6X memory, with Qualcomm likely betting on Samsung as its primary supplier.
Traditionally, energy-efficient LPDDR memory has been used in laptops, smartphones, tablets, and wearables. However, its use is expanding into AI accelerators-a path Nvidia has already explored.
The LPDDR6 standard supports maximum data transfer speeds of up to 14.4 Gbps and peak bandwidth of 38.4 GB/s, which is 44% and 20% higher respectively than LPDDR5X. LPDDR6X is expected to deliver even greater performance gains and improved energy efficiency, though JEDEC has yet to finalize its specifications.
Samsung has been the world’s largest memory chip manufacturer for decades but missed the AI-driven surge in high-speed HBM memory in the past two or three years. As a result, it lost leadership in the HBM3E segment to smaller rivals like Micron and SK hynix, costing the company billions in potential revenue.
It looks like Samsung is determined not to repeat that mistake. The company has accelerated development of HBM4 memory for AI servers along with LPDDR6 and LPDDR6X for consumer devices and data centers. Sending LPDDR6X samples to Qualcomm well before the official LPDDR6 launch signals Samsung’s intent to showcase its engineering prowess early and gather crucial customer feedback for product refinement.
Samsung also confirmed ongoing work on next-gen memory standards including HBM4E, HBM5, and custom HBM variants.
