Tag Archives: Fab

SK Hynix Inc., one of the top global producers of memory chips (both DRAM and NAND), was forced to suspend operations at its Wuxi, China fabrication facility due to a large fire.  Billowing smoke from the fire was visible many miles away. Image source:  KitGuru.com The fire reportedly started a bit before 4:00 pm local time while equipment was being …

It’s been roughly two years since the SSD industry transitioned to SATA 3 and many believed that Intel had missed the bus. Early leaks of the ‘Intel Road Map’ showed a mere X25 upgrade creating concern as the industry was graduating to SATA 3 and Intel had no 6Gbps design in place. Intel jumped back to reality with the ‘Marvel’ …

If NAND flash is the fuel, than a controller is the engine. This article takes a look at controller and firmware, it’s importance, and the players that “Own the Controller”. The first debate is what’s more important, the controller itself, or the firmware that drives it? While a debatable issue, we can certainly agree that one does not work without the other. Further, significant Intellectual Property …

Recent years have seen the consolidation of the memory market to three Tier 1 players, Hynix, Micron and Samsung. This consolidation was the result of enormous CAPEX requirements, coupled with a highly volatile commodity, DRAM. Today’s NAND Flash landscape is broad, compared to DRAM, however possesses the very same traits. Players today include Hynix, Intel, Micron, SanDisk, Samsung and Toshiba. …

There are many companies marketing solid state storage products today. The landscape is broadening, yet we continue to see consolidation. Who are the players today and who will be around in ten years? Stay tuned in upcoming days as our follow up articles shed a bit of light on today’s SSD companies, focus on the business models of some, and maybe even …