Intel Shows Off Vertical 'Z-Angle' Memory, Promises Big Thermal Boost

Intel has unveiled the first prototype of the Z-Angle Memory (ZAM) it’s co-developing with Softbank subsidiary Saimemory.

As WCCFTech reports, the company didn’t have any working samples at Intel Connection Japan 2026, but the event discussed the potential energy and thermal savings of ZAM over traditional high-bandwidth memory (HBM), with hopes to attract additional investment and partners.

As we all hunt for affordable DDR memory, the major data center builders of the world have scooped up all the HBM they can. That has lead to memory manufacturers to pivot production to HBM, affecting supply of consumer products like DDR5 DIMMs and NVMe SSDs. Intel and Saimemory are hoping to supplant that in the future, and open up potential new revenue streams for Intel, which was a major player in memory manufacturing until the 1980s.

Intel brought out the big hitters at its Japan event, including CTO of Intel Government Technologies, Joshua Fryman, and Intel Japan’s CEO, Makoto Onho. Together with representatives from Saimemory, they showed off the new ZAM prototype, and highlighted its unique design compared with traditional memory products. The vertically stacked memory uses “z-angle copper interconnects,” which route the connections diagonally within the memory die stack. This reportedly improves thermal conductivity by allowing for a central thermal pillar through the memory chips.

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As described by PCWatch, ZAM is designed to get around the thermal limitations of traditional planar memory designs. Through its vertical stacking and thermal design, ZAM can reportedly create higher-capacity memory modules than HBM, with lower power consumption, and lower operating temperatures. It might even be cheaper to produce, but until it’s in full production, that claim remains very much unproven.

Although Intel is mostly listed as providing investment for the venture, ZAM will leverage Intel’s Next Generation DRAM Bonding (NGDB) technologies, which will help ZAM bridge the gap between HBM and more traditional DRAM, while operating at better energy efficiencies. “Operations are targeted to begin in Q1 2026, with prototypes in 2027 and commercialization by 2030,” Intel says.

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This move is also a continued sign of Intel’s divestiture from its recent focus on pure fabrication, and into more design spaces. Its fabrication facilities in the US are hoping to attract more customers for third-party design and fabrication, and ZAM is an equal push to leverage Intel technologies to develop products for other companies.

This all comes following massive layoffs under the new CEO, Lip Bu-Tan, who has toed a difficult line in his relationship with the White House, which ultimately took a 10% stake in Intel.