NAND flash market to reach $18 bln by 2009, of which $12 bln will be flash cards

The NAND Flash market, as measured in the value of shipments in end products, will more than triple from $5 bln in 2004 to $18 bln in 2009, reports In-Stat. The vast majority of NAND chips are used in memory cards or USB memory where most end customers are interested in two things - storage capacity and price. The heavy reliance on the add-on card market makes NAND Flash a consumer-driven product with price sensitivity, but it also presents an opportunity for differentiation through perceived consumer value. By 2009, the flash card market will approach $12 bln.

Digital cameras, USB memory, the growing digital music player market, and the promise of a large mobile phone market will continue to dominate the non-Flash card based demand, with USB memory being the largest of the group with revenues of a little over $2 Billion in 2005. The shift from NOR to NAND has changed the Flash competitive landscape. Samsung has become a pivotal player, having overtaken Intel for the number one position in the combined NAND-plus-NOR Flash market. It must be noted, however, that Intel does not manufacture NAND Flash, where Samsung manufactures both kinds of Flash. Between 1999 and 2004, the Asia Pacific share of the NAND flash market has nearly doubled from 24.9% to 46.8%.