SK Hynix's latest memory chip comes with QLC technology and a capacity of 2 terabits. The chips could enable SSDs with more memory.
The world's second largest memory manufacturer SK Hynix is expanding its NAND flash generation V9 with a QLC version that stores four bits per cell (Quadruple Level Cells). It follows two years after the introduction of the TLC version (Tiple Level Cells with three bits). The QLC version doubles the storage capacity per chip from one to two terabits - probably accompanied by an increase in chip size.
The latest offshoot also works with 321 memory layers per chip. Just four of these chips stacked on top of each other results in a module with a capacity of one terabyte. 16 chips would result in 4 TByte in a small space.
PC SSDs first
SK Hynix is currently ramping up series production of the new QLC chips. The first products are set to appear in the first half of 2026. The manufacturer also sells its chips to third-party manufacturers who do not produce their own memory. According to the announcement, PC SSDs will be the first to go. The focus of QLC memory is on high capacity at the expense of performance compared to TLC. It is possible that this will result in M.2 SSDs with a capacity of 4 TByte that are around 30 mm short - until now, the limit has been 2 TByte.
In the long term, however, the focus is on high-capacity SSDs for data centers, as is typical for QLC. SK Hynix also wants to end up primarily in data centers for AI training.
More internal storage areas
While the number of storage layers remains identical between the QLC and TLC versions, SK Hynix has reorganized the internal structure: The cells are now divided into six memory areas (planes) instead of four. Each area can be written to and read from in parallel, which is intended to improve performance and thus conceal the transfer weaknesses of QLC.
The manufacturer promises a 56 percent improvement in write speed and 18 percent higher read performance compared to its previous QLC modules. Energy efficiency is set to increase by 23 percent.
