Micron vying for emerging eMMC NAND market
Micron Technology will benefit from the emerging market of NAND flash-based built-in eMMC solutions for mobile applications especially smartphones, which are seen as a bright spot for the overall handset market over the next five years. Daniel Loughmiller, eMMC Program Manager at Micron, said in recent talks with Digitimes that Micron's eMMC business is expected to see volumes significantly increase from 2009 to 2013, buoyed by an increasing adoption rate of managed NAND solutions for handsets.
According to Micron, the worldwide eMMC-interface NAND flash market is forecast to reach US$1.5 billion in 2010 and grow further to US$2 billion in 2011.
Micron's managed NAND portfolio supports the eMMC standard and is focused on providing eMMC solutions to the world's leading handset vendors, said Loughmiller. Micron is expected to step into production with its eMMC solutions for 2-3 customers in 2010. In the next two to three years, this standardized protocol interface will be supported by several handset players, Loughmiller added.
Micron has offered eMMC embedded devices in densities of 1-32GB, Loughmiller indicated. As with OneNAND, eMMC solutions could be a replacement option for NOR flash, Loughmiller commented. As a result, more consumer electronics and handset manufacturers are favoring NAND flash for new models which require higher memory densities.
Micron said it eMMC solutions simplify hardware and software integration in handset designs, providing a standard interface specification that minimizes the need for host software to accommodate process node migrations and different chipmakers' NAND flash devices.
Micron has also recognized its support of the newly-ratified JEDEC eMMC 4.4 standard as an important milestone, as one of the features offered in it (hardware reset) is critical for handset manufacturers if they wish to receive Windows Mobile 7 certification.
Micron in June 2009 announced its portfolio of managed NAND solutions compatible with the latest specification released by JEDEC. The eMMC 4.4 standard was published by JEDEC Solid State Technology Association in April, doubling memory interface performance over the previous standard.
In addition to Micron, Samsung, Toshiba and Hynix Semiconductor are set to provide managed NAND solutions for mobile applications.
According to a recent report by iSuppli, global handset shipments are set to decline by 12.3% in 2009, but smartphone shipments are estimated to grow 11.6% on year to 184.24 million units.
According to Micron, the worldwide eMMC-interface NAND flash market is forecast to reach US$1.5 billion in 2010 and grow further to US$2 billion in 2011.
Micron's managed NAND portfolio supports the eMMC standard and is focused on providing eMMC solutions to the world's leading handset vendors, said Loughmiller. Micron is expected to step into production with its eMMC solutions for 2-3 customers in 2010. In the next two to three years, this standardized protocol interface will be supported by several handset players, Loughmiller added.
Micron has offered eMMC embedded devices in densities of 1-32GB, Loughmiller indicated. As with OneNAND, eMMC solutions could be a replacement option for NOR flash, Loughmiller commented. As a result, more consumer electronics and handset manufacturers are favoring NAND flash for new models which require higher memory densities.
Micron said it eMMC solutions simplify hardware and software integration in handset designs, providing a standard interface specification that minimizes the need for host software to accommodate process node migrations and different chipmakers' NAND flash devices.
Micron has also recognized its support of the newly-ratified JEDEC eMMC 4.4 standard as an important milestone, as one of the features offered in it (hardware reset) is critical for handset manufacturers if they wish to receive Windows Mobile 7 certification.
Micron in June 2009 announced its portfolio of managed NAND solutions compatible with the latest specification released by JEDEC. The eMMC 4.4 standard was published by JEDEC Solid State Technology Association in April, doubling memory interface performance over the previous standard.
In addition to Micron, Samsung, Toshiba and Hynix Semiconductor are set to provide managed NAND solutions for mobile applications.
According to a recent report by iSuppli, global handset shipments are set to decline by 12.3% in 2009, but smartphone shipments are estimated to grow 11.6% on year to 184.24 million units.
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