12-20-2005, 08:00 AM
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Swami
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 4,303
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NY Times on Flash Memory: Huge Investments as Capacities Soar and Prices Plummet
"Demand for NAND chips has exploded in recent years. Global sales rose to $10.7 billion this year, from $1.5 billion in 2000, according to Gartner, which forecasts that sales will almost double again in three years, to $18 billion. Demand is so hot, in fact, that manufacturers say they cannot keep up. Toshiba says it has had to turn down new customers and estimates that manufacturers can meet only about 70 to 80 percent of global demand. Big buyers like Apple . . . are signing multiyear deals with chip makers to ensure supply. Shrinking supplies of chips have forced some smaller music-device makers in China to stop production, analysts say. But scarcity has not driven up prices, as might be expected when demand surpasses supply. That is because companies have continued to slash prices in a cutthroat race for market share, say analysts. This year alone, critical prices will probably drop 56 percent, according to Gartner."
The New York Times has written a good overview of the current state of the Flash memory industry. Samsung currently has 50.2% of the market, while Toshiba (who invented the technology) has 22.8%. Each is spending huge amount of money to stay ahead of the race. Samsung alone is planned to spend $33 billion and hire 5,000 more engineers over the next seven years to develop the next generation of chips. Their chief executive predicted in September that Flash dives will eventually replace had drives � starting with laptops. Whatever way you look at it, the consumer is the winner. Bigger, better, cheaper, faster, more. What's not to like? :mrgreen:
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