For years, the semiconductor company has been researching PCM, which is considered an experimental memory type. PCM involves glass-like material that changes states as atoms are rearranged. The state of the material corresponds to the 1s and 0s in computing, allowing it to be used to store data.

Many companies including Intel and Infineon Technologies have separately been involved in PCM's development for many years, trying to reduce size, while improving speed and storage capacity. Proponents have argued that PCM could eventually take the place of NAND and NOR flash memory types being used in mobile devices.

PCM chips will initially find use in mobile devices like handsets and ultimately provide a 30 percent reduction in power consumption and a 40 percent "space shrink" when changing memory parts from NOR flash to PCM, said Harry Yoon, senior manager of technical marketing of Samsung Semiconductor.

Samsung has started production of 512 megabit PCM chips, Yoon said. Production of the chips will rise with customer demand.

There is a lot of momentum behind the development of PCM, but the memory type is still being researched and needs years to replace existing memory types in mobile devices, analysts said. It could take many years to make its mark in mobile devices, said Jim Handy, an analyst at Objective Analysis, a semiconductor market research firm.