Ron@Maltiel-consulting.com -  Semiconductor & Patent Expert Consulting                     

IP Litigation expert consultant and patent expert witness for process, device, and circuit of  Dynamic

 Ram (DRAM), Flash  (NAND, NOR, EEPROM), and Static Ram (SRAM) Memories,

 and Microprocessor, Logic, and Analog Devices

 

 

Flash Drive is Surpassing Hard Drive Usage in Portable Video Players

1.  Flash Making a Splash in Portable Media Players  -  iSuppli  

2. NAND flash making a splash in portable media players, says iSuppli - Digitimes

3. Flash to soar in portable media players  -   EE Times

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1. Flash Making a Splash in Portable Media Players
 

June 4, 2007

 

Flash memory is set to invade the Portable Media Player (PMP) market in a big way in the coming years, with the number of flash-equipped PMPs expected to rise by a factor of more than 25 from 2006 to 2011, according to iSuppli Corp.

In 2011, the number of flash-equipped PMPs shipped is set to rise to 150.2 million units, 25.5 times as many as the 5.9 million in 2006. Shipments of flash-equipped PMPs will increase to 54.8 million units in 2007, nearly nine times the level of 2006. iSuppli defines a PMP as an MP3 player capable of video playback and equipped with suitable color display.

Meanwhile, shipments of PMPs equipped with the alternative form of storage, Hard Disk Drives (HDDs), will rise at a much more moderate rate, increasing to 35.3 million units in 2011, slightly more than the 29.3 million in 2007.

The attached figure presents iSuppli’s estimate and forecast for PMP unit shipments by storage type.




 

“NAND flash costs are nearing a point where makers of MP3 music players can add enough capacity to support video content, which requires significantly more storage than audio,” said Chris Crotty, senior analyst, consumer electronics, for iSuppli. “The average cost of NAND flash memory will decline by 47.1 percent per year from 2005 to 2010.”

The two types of storage media used for players, NAND flash memory and HDDs, both have advantages and disadvantages, Crotty noted.

NAND’s advantages include longer battery life, smaller size, more flexible form factors, and a wider variety of capacities. On the downside, NAND costs more per megabit than HDD storage and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, iSuppli predicts.

HDDs are less expensive than flash, but lead to shortened battery lives, are more susceptible to mechanical failure and have a large and rigid form factor that increases the size of PMPs. As with video overall, market leader Apple was not the first company to introduce a flash based PMP. But the company likely will add new video capable flash players on the heels of launching its iPhone.

“Apple’s next iPod could very well be an iPhone without the phone part,” Crotty noted. For more on the PMP/MP3 market, please see Crotty’s latest report entitled: PMP Growth Competes with Mobile Handsets, Handheld Video Players.

For more information, please visit: http://www.isuppli.com/catalog/detail.asp?id=8424.

For more information, please contact:

Jonathan Cassell
Editorial Director and Manager, Public Relations
iSuppli Corporation
 

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. NAND flash making a splash in portable media players, says iSuppli

Press release, June 4; Esther Lam,                                                                  DIGITIMES [Tuesday 5 June 2007]

Flash memory is set to invade the portable media player (PMP) market in a big way in the coming years, with the number of flash-equipped PMPs expected to rise by a factor of more than 25 from 2006 to 2011, according to research firm iSuppli.

In 2011, the number of flash-equipped PMPs shipped is set to rise to 150.2 million units, 25.5 times as many as the 5.9 million in 2006. Shipments of flash-equipped PMPs will increase to 54.8 million units in 2007, nearly nine times the level of 2006. iSuppli defines a PMP as an MP3 player capable of video playback and equipped with suitable color display.

Meanwhile, shipments of PMPs equipped with the alternative form of storage, hard disk drives (HDDs), will rise at a much more moderate rate, increasing to 35.3 million units in 2011, slightly more than the 29.3 million in 2007.

"NAND flash costs are nearing a point where makers of MP3 music players can add enough capacity to support video content, which requires significantly more storage than audio," said Chris Crotty, senior analyst, consumer electronics, for iSuppli. "The average cost of NAND flash memory will decline by 47.1% per year from 2005 to 2010."

The two types of storage media used for players, NAND flash memory and HDDs, both have advantages and disadvantages, Crotty noted.

NAND's advantages include longer battery life, smaller size, more flexible form factors, and a wider variety of capacities. On the downside, NAND costs more per megabit than HDD storage and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, iSuppli predicts.

HDDs are less expensive than flash, but lead to shortened battery lives, are more susceptible to mechanical failure and have a large and rigid form factor that increases the size of PMPs.

As with video overall, market leader Apple was not the first company to introduce a flash based PMP. But the company likely will add new video capable flash players on the heels of launching its iPhone.

PMP shipments forecast by storage type (flash vs. HDD) (million)

Category

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

HDD PMP

5.4

20.6

29.3

32.1

34.0

34.9

35.3

Flash PMP

0.0

5.9

54.8

96.0

123.1

139.4

150.2

 

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Flash to soar in portable media players


 
Antone Gonsalves                                                                                                                        (06/04/2007 2:56 PM EDT)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199901264
 
The use of flash memory within portable media players is expected to soar over the next few years, while the number of devices with alternative hard disk drives is expected to increase at a more moderate rate, a market research firm said Monday.

The number of flash-equipped portable media players is expected to rise to 150.2 million units by 2011, or more than 25 times the 5.9 million units that shipped in 2006, iSuppli said. The number of flash-equipped units expected to ship this year is 54.8 million. iSuppli defines a portable media player as an MP3 player capable of video playback and equipped with a suitable color display.

Meanwhile, shipments of portable media players equipped with hard disk drives are forecast to increase to only 35.3 million units in 2011 from 29.3 million units this year.

The cost of NAND flash is dropping to where MP3 players can add enough capacity to support video content, iSuppli analyst Chris Crott said in a statement. The average cost of flash memory is expected to decline by more than 47% per year through 2010.

Advantages of flash memory over hard disk drives include longer battery life, smaller size, more flexible form factors, and a wider variety of capacities. In addition, flash is less prone to failure. Cost, however, remains the downside.

Nevertheless, the use of flash memory is expected to increase dramatically, not just in portable media players, but also in notebooks, according to iSuppli.