ESNA spoke with ReSolve, part of Arrow's newly launched reverse logistics group, which also includes Intechra, an IT asset disposition services company and Converge, an independent distributor, to discuss the importance of a reverse supply chain logistics program. 
The aftermath of Japan's earthquake last month has left the electronics supply chain struggling with production stoppages and shipment delays of electronic components and raw materials supply.
Because the DRAM market is highly volatile the current buyer's market could quickly swing into a seller's market during the second half of 2011. Buyers will need to keep an eye on several key issues.
Samsung mass produces 4-Gbit DDR3 DRAM
Seoul, Korea — Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. has started volume production of the industry’s first low-power 4-gigabit (Gbit) DDR3 devices using 40 nanometer (nm) class process technology. The high-density memory is expected to deliver significant power savings to data centers, server systems and high-end notebooks.
“When our 40-nm-class DDR3 was first introduced last July, we were well ahead of the curve for high density, high performance DDR3,” said Dong-Soo Jun, executive vice president, memory marketing, Samsung Electronics, in a statement. “Now, in just seven more months, we have introduced an ultra-low-power ‘Green Memory’ — the 4-Gbit DDR3, which is double the density of its predecessor. At a module density of 16-gigabyte (Gbyte), the 4 Gbit-based module can save 35 percent in power consumption to support customer requirements for more energy-efficient designs.”
The 40-nm-class Green DDR3 is optimized to enhance energy-efficiency ratings for servers that need to comply with or exceed new Energy Star power consumption specifications.
As an example, a module based on 60-nm-class, 1-Gbit DDR2 components consumes 210 W, while a 40-nm-class, 2-Gbit DDR3 module consumes 55 W, representing an approximate 75 percent savings, says Samsung. The new 4-Gbit DDR3-based module consumes only 36 W, which translates into about an 83 percent savings over the 60-nm-class, 1-Gbit DDR2 module. With growing concern about energy costs in data centers, these memory power savings translate into an overall reduction in server power of 10 percent per system, according to the memory maker.
By upgrading to Samsung’s 40-nm 4-Gbit DDR3-based modules in existing server systems, DRAM density can be raised at least two-fold and system life time can be extended, which also reduces the need for investments in new systems.
The 4-Gbit DDR3 raises the SoDIMM density to 8 Gbyte. This enables a system level density of up to 16 Gbyte for two socket modes, or 32 Gbyte for four socket models, which is expected to meet much of the growing demand for high-performance notebooks with advanced graphics, says Samsung.
The 4-Gbit DDR3 supports both 1.5-V and 1.35-V specifications. Available memory modules include 16 and 32-Gbyte RDIMMs and 8-Gbyte SoDIMMs with a 1.6-Gigabit per second (Gbits/s) performance rate.
With the start of volume production for 4-Gbit DDR, Samsung plans to migrate more than 90 percent of its DDR DRAM production to 40-nm-class process technology.
Delphi Automotive intros an aluminum cable as an alternative to more expensive copper cabling in automotive applications.