The NAND flash memory chip, developed with California-based SanDisk Corp., can write at six megabytes per second and read at 60 megabytes per second, 40 percent faster than the previous generation, Toshiba Corp. said.

The eight-gigabit chip has potential applications ranging from running digital appliances to powering third-generation mobile telephones.

Toshiba said it found a way to store two bits of data in each memory cell, meaning the chip is less than five percent larger than predecessors.

"Although eight-gigabit memory size products are also being released by our rivals, our new product has strength in the improved write/read speed," said Junichi Nagaki, spokesman for Toshiba.

On January 25, Samsung Electronics said it had started to mass-produce its XDR DRAM chip which it claimed was the fastest in the world and could be used for videos, game consoles, digital TVs, servers and workstations.

All rights reserved. copyright 2018 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.