Just after my previous post about Samsung Electronics development of 40 nanometer technology for manufacturing memory chips, Hynix announced on Sunday that it has developed the world's first one gigabit DRAM chip using 44 nanometer technology! These announcements make it clear that Korea's main semiconductor manufacturers have opened up a technology lead over their major rivals in other countries. Reports in the Korea Times and other local press noted that prices of DRAM chips are gaining momentum after the German-based firm Qimonda filed for insolvency. The productivity of this latest DDR3 (double data rate) chip will be 50 percent greater than chips now on the market. Production costs and power consumption by the chips will also be lowered. A significant aspect of this development is that it is based on technology advances within Hynix.