Fast transfer of high-capacity content, improved app execution speed with A2 specifications

Western Digital unveiled the industry's fastest UHS-I memory card, the 400GB SanDisk Extreme UHS-I microSDXC card, at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018. The company also showcased the future of flash memory card technology with a demonstration of a PCIe (PCI Express) memory card.

Western Digital is revolutionizing the consumer mobile experience with industry-leading mobile solutions in an increasingly sophisticated and complex mobile content and application environment. Western Digital's advanced mobile flash memory technology enables consumers to create immersive virtual worlds with VR apps or experience superior performance when capturing 4K video with smartphones and drones.

Western Digital's 400GB SanDisk Extreme UHS-I microSDXC card, unveiled at MWC 2018, is designed to transfer high-capacity content at speeds of up to 160MB/s, a speed increase of more than 50% over the previous SanDisk Extreme UHS-I microSD card. This industry-leading speed is achieved based on Western Digital's patented technology. Additionally, it has the A2 specification, the next-generation application performance class, which has also innovatively improved app execution and loading speed.

Western Digital also showcases the future of flash memory cards with a PCIe SD card demonstration. Traditionally, PCIe has been used in high-performance data center systems, with single-lane PCIe Gen 3.0 speeds of up to 985 MB/s. Western Digital, with its broad portfolio, plans to apply this PCIe standard to further enhance the performance of its SD cards in the future. This technology meets the expectations of next-generation high-performance mobile computing, enabling faster file reads than existing platforms. High transfer speeds are essential for high-resolution content applications such as super slow motion cameras, RAW burst mode, and 8K video capture and playback.

“Western Digital is pushing the boundaries of innovation with 3D NAND technology to enable consumers to create and enjoy richer content,” said Jim Welsh, senior vice president and general manager, Client Solutions, Western Digital. “Western Digital’s expertise in flash memory technology and microSD cards, including the innovative new SanDisk microSD card, will enable us to deliver cutting-edge solutions to address the exponential growth of data.”