Samsung has announced the development of its Universal Flash Storage (UFS) 5.0 solution, designed to support on-device artificial intelligence (AI) applications in future mobile devices.
The announcement comes amid an industry-wide shift of generative AI processing from cloud networks to local hardware, which has increased the data throughput demands on mobile memory systems.
Performance and Specifications
The new storage solution integrates the latest JEDEC embedded memory interface standards. According to specifications released by the company, UFS 5.0 achieves:
- Sequential Read Speed: Up to 10.8 gigabytes per second (GB/s)
- Sequential Write Speed: Up to 9.5 GB/s
These data transfer rates represent a two-fold increase compared to the previous UFS 4.1 standard, aimed at reducing latency when processing large language models (LLMs) locally.
Power Efficiency and Form Factor
Samsung reports a 40% improvement in power efficiency over UFS 4.1. This reduction in energy consumption per data transfer is attributed to the implementation of clock gating and multi-voltage technologies, which are intended to optimize battery life in mobile hardware.
| Attribute | UFS 5.0 Specifications | Comparison to UFS 4.1 |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 7.5mm x 13mm x 0.9mm | 16.7% smaller footprint |
| Max Capacity | Up to 1 terabyte (TB) | Equivalent maximum capacity |
| Read Speed | 10.8 GB/s | >2x faster |
The reduced physical footprint is designed to provide hardware manufacturers with greater design flexibility and internal space allocation across various product categories.
Production Timeline and Market Deployment
Mass production of the UFS 5.0 chips is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of this year. Samsung plans to distribute the storage solutions in multiple capacities, targeting integration into flagship smartphones, extended reality (XR) headsets, and wearable devices.
Jangseok Choi, head of Memory Product Planning at Samsung Electronics, said:
In the era of on-device AI, storage devices are evolving into a key driver defining AI experiences. As we successfully move beyond the development stage of the industry’s first UFS 5.0 solution, Samsung is setting a new standard for storage on the go and will continue to drive innovation for the next-generation mobile platform market.