SSDs could get bigger and cheaper with Samsung’s 9th-gen QLC

Samsung has started mass production of 280-layer V-NAND memory for SSDs, in its 9th generation of QLC – called V9. This means that we could soon have new drives with higher capacities and lower prices – at least their components would theoretically allow this.

The manufacturer claims that its latest generation of QLC is approximately 86% denser than the previous one. In addition, with Designed Mold and Predictive Program technologies, Samsung promises up to 20% more data retention and up to 60% more input/output speed on the latest V-NAND.

According to Tom’s Hardware, the new generation of 280-layer QLD SSDs not only outperforms the previous generation, but also the latest competitors. The storage density reaches 28.5Gb/mm², which makes Samsung’s technology more than 40% denser than the second best solution, YMTC’s 232-layer QLC, which allows for 19.8Gb/mm².

Advances in technology could result in QLC SSDs that are up to 50% cheaper and perform better than what we currently see on the market. And this applies to all types of form factors using NAND memory, not just M.2 PCIe desktop drives, but also servers with U.2 connections.

Samsung doesn’t just target SSDs

Samsung’s latest generation of QLC V-NAND is expected to appear in all of the company’s products that use this type of memory, not just SSDs. The company’s main focus is on UFS components for smartphone storage. The company also notes that it will offer cloud storage services with V9 QLC SSDs in servers.

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Finally, it is worth remembering that Quad Level Cell (QLC) is the most popular solution for SSDs because it results in memories with greater capacity and more affordable prices. However, depending on the generation, TLC and SLC offer more performance and reliability.