Intel and Micron’s 2015 “bulk-switching” announcement was the launch of 3D XPoint, a non-volatile memory technology the companies said changed resistance through a property of the bulk material. The launch was widely described as a form of ReRAM, but Intel and Micron did not disclose the material chemistry or detailed switching mechanism. They presented 3D XPoint as a transistor-less, three-dimensional cross-point design; it later reached products including Micron’s X100 SSD and Intel Optane.
What did Intel and Micron announce?
On July 28, 2015, Intel and Micron introduced 3D XPoint as a new category of non-volatile memory. Their announcement said wafers were already running in production and described an architecture in which memory cells occupy intersections of word lines and bit lines. The companies said each cell could be addressed individually without a transistor at every cell.
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Mtlavishness Optane Memory Module 16GB and 32GB PCIe NVMe M.2 2280 3D Xpoint New Generation Storage... | $17.39 | Buy on Amazon |
EE Times described the technology at launch as “bulk-switching” ReRAM. That label captured the companies’ account of how the memory switched, not a disclosed recipe for building it. Micron CEO Mark Durcan described it as “a fundamentally different switch giving a bulk-switching mechanism.”
What did “bulk-switching” mean?
In EE Times’ account of Intel’s written explanation, “The switching mechanism is via changes in resistance of the bulk material.” In other words, the companies characterized the resistance change as a property of the material volume rather than the creation or rupture of a narrow conductive filament, as commonly associated with filamentary ReRAM.
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That distinction is about the mechanism as the companies described it. The 2015 launch materials did not name the compounds or publish enough detail to establish the precise chemistry. So it is accurate to say that 3D XPoint was reported as “bulk-switching” ReRAM, but not to state a specific material system as fact.
Was 3D XPoint actually ReRAM?
“ReRAM” was a useful contemporary description of the resistance-switching idea, including in EE Times’ coverage. Intel and Micron’s own product name and public framing, however, were 3D XPoint and “a new class of non-volatile memory.” The companies emphasized both the resistance change and the cross-point array architecture, while withholding details that would let readers independently classify its exact physical mechanism.
The most careful answer is therefore that 3D XPoint was presented and reported as a bulk-switching, ReRAM-like technology, but the public launch record did not establish its chemistry or provide a detailed mechanism sufficient to settle every taxonomy question. Calling it simply “ReRAM” without that qualification makes the evidence sound more specific than it was.
What performance and density did Intel and Micron claim?
The July 2015 announcement included headline figures below. They were company claims, not independent benchmark results. Intel and Micron’s footnotes compared speed and endurance with industry NAND, and density with conventional DRAM.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute| Launch figure | What Intel and Micron said | Qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | Up to 1,000 times faster than NAND | Vendor comparison against industry NAND; not an independent test result. |
| Endurance | Up to 1,000 times greater endurance than NAND | Vendor comparison against industry NAND; not an independent test result. |
| Density | Up to 10 times denser than conventional memory | The release’s footnote specified conventional DRAM as the comparison. |
| Capacity per die | 128Gb per individual die | Figure stated in the 2015 launch announcement. |
The announcement also used a data-growth forecast as context: Intel and Micron cited 4.4 zettabytes of digital data created in 2013 and forecast 44 zettabytes by 2020. Those were figures in a 2015 company release, with the latter a forecast for 2020—not a current measurement.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How did 3D XPoint move from announcement to products?
2015: A joint technology, separate product plans
At launch, Intel and Micron said they expected to sample 3D XPoint with select customers later in 2015. They also said each company would develop its own products, so the partnership on the memory technology did not mean a single shared product line.
2018: The partnership’s next phase
In 2018, the companies said their second-generation joint development was expected to finish in the first half of 2019. Development beyond that generation would be pursued independently, while manufacturing continued at the IMFT facility in Lehi, Utah.
2019: Micron announces the X100 SSD
Micron announced the X100 as its first 3D XPoint product: an enterprise NVMe SSD. For the X100, Micron listed up to 2.5 million IOPS, more than 9GB/s of bandwidth, and read-write latency it said was 11 times better than NAND SSDs. These are Micron’s product claims, not independent test findings. The company said the drive would enter limited sampling with select customers that quarter.
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3D XPoint did not remain only a technology announcement. Intel Optane was a related product path, while Micron announced the X100 SSD. The companies’ separate product development plans help explain why a shared memory technology did not imply identical products or a shared product strategy.
Why did Micron stop developing 3D XPoint?
In 2021, Micron said it would cease 3D XPoint development immediately. It cited insufficient market validation for the investment needed to commercialize the technology at scale, and said it would redirect resources toward CXL-enabled memory products. That explains Micron’s stated business decision; it does not, by itself, establish that 3D XPoint’s switching mechanism failed technically or that every related product stopped at the same time.
What the 3D XPoint story shows
3D XPoint combined an ambitious memory proposition—persistent storage with performance closer to memory—with a distinctive cross-point architecture. Its public launch made strong speed, endurance, and density comparisons, but those remained vendor claims with stated baselines. The technology reached named products, yet Micron ultimately judged the market case insufficient to justify scaling its development investment. For readers comparing memory technologies today, the relevant dimensions are latency, endurance, density, persistence, interface and software compatibility, total cost, and actual product availability—not a launch comparison taken out of context.
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