SanDisk delivers on Intel's promise
This past September, Intel Corp. announced a break-through -- the ability to replace each bit of a special kind of memory (called flash RAM) with two bits -- doubling the capacity of memory chips used in gadgets ranging from personal digital assistants to digital cameras, and from Internet TV boxes to network routers.
On Tuesday, SanDisk Corp. beat Intel to the punch, delivering a second-generation product based on a similar two-for-one concept.
"We announced our technology in September 1996," said Nelson Chan, director of marketing for the Sunnyvale, Calif., company. "We are announcing our second generation. Our chips can store more data than Intel's, and take up less space. That's what you get in a second-generation product."
Does going to the next generation make a difference? "Given that the product is smaller than Intel's, SanDisk has done really well with a difficult technology," said Peter Glaskowsky, senior analyst with semiconductor market watchgroup MicroDesign Resources of Sebastopol, Calif.
Glaskowsky thinks more flash means more features.
Flash memory is found in any device that needs a semi-permanent way of storing data. The advantage of flash memory is its ability to hold data, even when the power is off. Currently, devices such as modems use flash memory to allow updating the onboard "software." Other devices, like PDAs, use flash in the same way a PC uses a hard drive.
On September 17, Intel announced that it reined in the difficulties that it had in releasing a multi-bit multi-level flash technology -- which it named StrataFlash -- and that it was planning to release 8Mbyte chips in the first quarter of 1998. Flash rival SanDisk will release its 10Mbyte products, which it claims are smaller than Intel's, by mid-1998. The two companies compete for many markets including digital cameras, PDAs and network routers.
Glaskowsky talks about the ins and outs of flash RAM technology.
The winner of the competition is consumers. "It's like you have a larger hard drive," said Glaskowsky. "Users will get more applications and more features." The MicroDesign analyst sees more Windows CE apps, more flexibility in Internet boxes, and more features in network hardware.