Toshiba recently showed it could make NAND flash using the 10-nanometer process. NAND could compete with PCM as chip sizes continue to shrink, Handy said. But NAND flash will reach the end of its line at some point, which is when PCM or competing memory technologies could take off.

Wong said PCM also has to overcome development and cost-related issues in the short term. For example, NOR flash stores two bits per cell, while PCM stores only one bit, which pushes up development costs.

"They are going to have to be able to aggressively shrink the memory cell in order for it to be cost competitive with NOR," Wong said.

Nevertheless, Samsung's production announcement is a significant milestone for PCM's future, analysts said.

"What they seem to be implying is that they've gone from something that was a lab curiosity to something they believe can be mass produced," Handy said. "It implies they saw a brighter future for PCM than other technologies."