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Tag: nand

  • Toshiba Launches Highest Density Embedded NAND Flash Memory Modules

    Toshiba announced the launch of a 64 GB embedded NAND flash memory module, the highest capacity yet achieved in the industry.

    The new device combines sixteen 32Gbit (equal to 4GB) NAND chips fabricated with Toshiba’s 32nm process technology, and also integrates a dedicated controller.

    The chip is the flagship device in a new line-up of six embedded NAND flash memory modules that offer full compliance with the latest e•MMC standard.

    Toshiba is the first company to succeed in combining sixteen 32Gbit NAND chips. The company has applied advanced chip thinning and layering technologies to realize individual chips that are only 30 micrometers thick.

    Full compliance with the JEDEC/MMCA Version 4.4(V4.4) standard for embedded MultiMediaCards supports standard interfacing and simplified embedding in products, reducing development burdens on product manufacturers.

    “Demand continues to grow for embedded memories with a controller function that minimizes development requirements and eases integration into system designs. Toshiba has established itself as an innovator in this key area. The company was first to announce a 32GB e•MMCT compliant device, and is now reinforcing its leadership by being first to market with a 64GB generation module,” says Toshiba.

    The company informed that samples of the 64GB module are available from today, and mass production will start in the first quarter of 2010.

  • Micron First To Deliver Native SATA 6Gb/s SSD

    Micron claims it has raised the performance bar for SSDs with the launch of its RealSSD C300 SSD, the industry’s fastest for notebook and desktop PCs.

    While benchmark tests have shown that the C300 SSD is the fastest PC SSD leveraging the industry standard SATA 3Gb/s interface, the SSD performance is further boosted by natively supporting the next generation high-speed interface – SATA 6Gb/s, according to Micron.

    “While some drive architectures require a trade-off between throughput-sensitive and IOPS-sensitive data streams, Micron’s core design and higher speed interface provides advantages for both,” the company says.

    The C300 SSD leverages the SATA 6Gb/s interface to achieve a read throughput speed of up to 355MB/s and a write throughput speed of up to 215MB/s. Using the common PC Mark Vantage scoring system, the C300 SSD turns in a score of 45,000 from the HDD Suite.

    “Hard drives gain little performance advantage when using SATA 6Gb/s because of mechanical limitations,” said Dean Klein, vice president of memory system development at Micron.

    “As a developer of leading-edge NAND technology, along with our sophisticated controller and firmware innovations, Micron is well positioned to tune our drives to take full advantage of the faster speeds achieved using the SATA 6Gb/s interface. The combination of these technology advancements has enabled the RealSSD C300 drive to far outshine the competition,” he added.

    The RealSSD C300 drive was designed using micron’s established 34nm MLC NAND flash memory. Bringing another first to SSDs, Micron’s 34nm MLC NAND supports the high-speed ONFI 2.1 standard and it’s expected to ensure the NAND performance keeps pace with the faster SATA 6Gb/s interface.

    The drives will be available in 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch form factors, with both drives supporting 128GB and 256GB capacities. The company informed they are currently sampling the C300 SSD in limited quantities and expects to enter production in the first quarter of 2010.

  • Samsung Begins Volume Production of 30-nm-class, 3-bit MLC NAND Flash Chips

    Samsung announced that it commenced the industry’s first volume production of 3-bit, multi-level-cell NAND flash chips using 30-nm-class process technology at the end of November.

    The chips will be used in NAND flash modules accompanied by Samsung 3-bit NAND controllers to initially produce 8 GB microSD cards.

    According to Samsung, three-bit MLC NAND increases the efficiency of NAND data storage by 50 percent over today’s pervasive 2-bit MLC NAND chips and provides consumers with effective NAND-based storage that can be applied to USB flash drives in addition to a range of micro SD cards.

    The company claims mass production of 30nm 3-bit NAND will significantly raise the portion of NAND flash memory production devoted to high densities (32Gb and above), designed to accommodate increased video usage.

    Samsung also announced other NAND advancements – the industry’s first mass production of its 30-nm-class, 32 Gb, MLC NAND memory with an asynchronous DDR interface.

    The company said it began shipping initial production of its DDR NAND to major OEMs at the end of November.

    DDR NAND is expected to raise the read performance of mobile devices requiring high-speeds and large amounts of storage space. Samsung’s new DDR MLC NAND chip, which reads at 133 Mbps would replace single data rate MLC NAND, which has an overall read performance of 40Mbps.

    Use of 30nm-class DDR NAND enables premium memory cards to register 60Mbps read speeds, at least a 300 percent performance gain compared to SDR NAND-based memory cards with an average 17Mbps read speed.

    According to market research firm Gartner Dataquest, the global NAND flash memory market is forecast to be worth US$13.8 billion in 2009 and reach US$23.6 billion by 2012.

  • Apple's earnings from iPhone could be higher than first estimated






    As pricing details continue to emerge about the new iPhone, one analyst estimates that Apple stands to make more from each device than previously thought.
    Gene Munster, of investment bank Piper Jaffray, said that AT&T’s complete official pricing for iPhone 3G units suggests Apple is making more from the reportedly abundant iPhone stock than estimated in the past.
    Although the US$199 starting price is much lower for the customers themselves, the US$599 pay-as-you-go price suggests that the carrier subsidy cuts much deeper.
    If so, then this hides potentially greater profits for Apple, which could be asking US$500 for each iPhone versus an earlier estimate of US$425.
    “This discrepancy leads us to believe our [average selling price] is conservative,” said Munster.
    The analyst said that a change of this level would boost Apple’s revenue for 2009 by eight per cent.
    Reitzes also points out that steep drops in the prices of NAND flash memory could further help Apple’s bottom line by reducing the manufacturing costs of each iPhone.
    However, such is the iPhone’s hunger for flash chips – Apple is understood to have ordered 50 million of Samsung’s eight gigabit (one gigabyte) – that Samsung’s supply is reportedly being put under pressure.
    Each iPhone typically uses multiple stacked chips.
    Some of Samsung’s smaller customers are apparently being told that their own orders are being reduced to keep Apple in healthy supply.
    The situation has been compounded by Samsung reducing production in April and May to prevent an oversupply later in the year, while Apple also reportedly ordered half as many NAND chips in June.
    Meanwhile, Toni Sacconaghi, research analyst with Bernstein Research, said he now expects Apple to sell 8.5 million iPhones for the rest of the calendar year, bringing his forecasted total for all of 2008 to 11 million units.
    The analyst expects 19.5 million units to be sold in 2009.
    Sacconaghi thinks the company can take 15 per cent of the post-paid US handset market in calendar 2009, and 6 per cent share of the post-paid market outside the US.
    “These are impressive numbers given the iPhone remains positioned at the very high end of the mobile handset market,” he said.
    Outside the US, Sacconaghi notes that the significant increase in the number of countries in which Apple will sell the phone should lead to much higher non-US sales than for the first generation phone – he expects the penetration rate will be 2.5 times higher.