Chinese storage maker Longsys has ramped micro SSD production to a steady output of around 1 million units per month. These ultra-compact drives target devices where space is ultra-limited-such as edge AI gadgets, industrial electronics, and automotive systems. After months of refining the manufacturing process, the company has shifted from engineering samples to full-scale industrial production.
Longsys first rolled out engineering samples of the micro SSDs in October 2023 at its packaging and testing facility in Suzhou. Since then, the focus has been on improving yields, eliminating defects, and fine-tuning the production line to run smoothly at volume without unexpected hiccups.
System-in-Package design frees up space inside devices
The defining feature of these micro SSDs is their System-in-Package (SiP) architecture. Instead of mounting the controller, NAND flash, and power management components on a traditional printed circuit board, Longsys integrates all these elements into a single compact package. For comparison, a standard M.2 2280 SSD measures 22 by 80 millimeters-a relatively large footprint for tight spaces.
Longsys’s design cuts out all unnecessary bulk, freeing critical room inside devices where every millimeter competes with batteries, radio modules, and cooling systems.
PCIe Gen4 and Gen5 micro SSDs with advanced thermal management
The company offers versions supporting PCIe Gen4 and Gen5 interfaces. The higher-end PCIe Gen5 variant includes a vapor chamber heat dissipation system to prevent throttling during prolonged workloads. This is notable given that standard PCIe Gen5 SSDs in PCs often hit thermal limits and require bulky heatsinks. Longsys manages to pack effective cooling into a microscopic form factor.
Longsys also says it has a path toward PCIe Gen6 compatibility without altering the core SiP architecture, signaling readiness for future high-speed standards without a major redesign.
Built-in data processing accelerates edge AI workloads
Beyond hardware, Longsys is advancing onboard software features designed to handle data processing directly on the SSD. Technologies like SPU, iSA, and HLCache aim to speed up local operations, which is crucial for edge AI devices that need low-latency computation without always relying on cloud connectivity.
This positions Longsys’s micro SSDs between traditional mobile memory standards like UFS-which are compact but less powerful-and full-sized SSDs that are usually too bulky for tiny AI systems.
Scaling production for mass-market edge AI hardware
Reaching a stable output of 1 million units per month could push these micro SSDs beyond niche demos into mainstream adoption by device makers. As the demand for smaller, smarter edge AI devices grows, the need for ultra-dense, high-speed storage inside tight enclosures is unlikely to remain limited.
While giants like Samsung and Western Digital focus largely on conventional SSD formats for PCs and data centers, Longsys’s micro SSDs cater to a rising segment craving both compactness and processing power. They fill a gap in the current storage market, enabling AI and industrial applications that larger SSDs can’t fit.
Looking ahead, it will be interesting to see how Longsys balances scaling volume while maintaining quality, especially as PCIe Gen6 approaches and edge AI devices demand even tighter integration of compute and storage. The company’s success could redefine storage standards for miniaturized AI hardware worldwide.