Samsung Adopts RISC-V for New SSD Controller, Ditches Arm to Cut Costs and Boost Performance

Samsung announced it will use its own RISC-V-based controller in its new consumer SSD (BM9K1), moving away from Arm to reduce royalty costs and gain design freedom.

This decision comes as NAND flash memory prices are soaring, making cost-saving measures like eliminating Arm royalties a critical strategic move.

By adopting the open-source RISC-V, Samsung can finely tune the controller for specific tasks like AI workloads and QLC NAND, achieving significant performance and efficiency gains.

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Samsung has made a significant decision to use a controller based on the open-source RISC-V architecture in its new consumer SSD.

This move is driven primarily by a desire to break free from Arm's licensing model. For years, Arm has been the industry standard for processor architecture, but it has recently explored new royalty structures tied to device prices. This created financial uncertainty and risk for manufacturers like Samsung. Imagine a landlord who might unpredictably raise your rent—this is the kind of instability Samsung sought to avoid. This situation, combined with regulatory probes into Arm's licensing practices, provided a strong incentive to seek out alternatives.

So, why choose RISC-V? The most compelling advantage is its open-source nature. This means it is free to use, completely eliminating royalty fees. But the benefits extend beyond cost savings. It grants engineers total freedom to customize the chip's design. For an SSD controller, this is a game-changer. It allows for fine-tuning to perfectly match modern technologies like high-density QLC NAND memory and to efficiently handle the unique data patterns of AI workloads. Samsung has already demonstrated the results: a 1.6x improvement in read speed and a 23% boost in energy efficiency compared to the previous generation.

Furthermore, the timing of this shift is critical. The market is currently experiencing a NAND memory supercycle, where the price of the core component in SSDs is skyrocketing. As manufacturing costs climb, eliminating a significant licensing fee provides a crucial buffer. It's a strategic maneuver to protect profit margins in a challenging market and maintain competitive pricing for the final product.

In essence, Samsung's adoption of RISC-V is not merely a technical swap. It's a comprehensive strategic response to a convergence of pressures: unpredictable licensing costs from Arm, the demand for customized performance in the age of AI, and a volatile memory market. This decision empowers Samsung with greater control over its technology, costs, and supply chain.

RISC-V: An open-source instruction set architecture (ISA) that is free to use without licensing fees, allowing for custom processor design.
SSD Controller: The 'brain' of a Solid-State Drive (SSD) that manages data storage, retrieval, error correction, and overall drive health.
QLC (Quad-Level Cell) NAND: A type of flash memory that stores four bits of data per cell, offering higher density and lower cost but requiring more advanced controller management for performance and endurance.