It’s trade show time, as events like CES roll out the latest and greatest in tech. You don’t need to be an über geek to appreciate some of the new toys popping up on the market, especially since trends are pointing towards smaller, smarter and faster.
Devices like smartphones, smart watches and tablet PCs also need to have storage capacities that were unheard of, even a few years ago. To store the epic amount of data that they are expected to process regularly, and keep their svelte figures, these devices have to achieve the impossible; they have to be bigger on the inside.
Figuratively, that is.
No, these devices aren’t bending the laws of physics, they’re just relying on a nifty thing called NAND flash memory. And the proliferation of mobile devices is causing the Global Mobile NAND Flash Memory Market to grow significantly, with a projected CAGR of 18.8 percent through to 2018.
The NAND Nitty Gritty
NAND flash memory is a non-volatile storage technology that enables rapid read and write operations in memory cards. The series connection used in NAND chips consumes less space than a parallel connection, reducing their cost. The chips are also easily scalable to large densities, and are therefore widely used in digital cameras, MP3 players, USB flash drives, and other devices.
Mobile NAND Ups and Downs
More smartphones and tablets are being used to both consume and create media. And the ever-increasing number of corresponding apps to help in the creation and sharing of this media is seriously driving the mobile NAND flash memory market.
Still, the mobile devices market is fickle, running hot and cold all the time. This volatility can have a negative impact on any markets that feed into the industry, including (you guessed it) mobile NAND flash memory. High inventory levels and overstocking, as well as intense competition among vendors are leading to lower profit margins for the vendors.
Additionally, Apple, the largest consumer of mobile NAND flash memory is rocking the boat with its free iCloud service. iCloud decreases Apple’s storage needs by about 80GB per user, which will likely result is reduced demand for mobile NAND flash memory in iPhones.
However, rapid advances in technology, the emergence of new computing platforms, and greater demand for faster, cheaper storage will continue to boost the growing global market.
For more insights into this market, including more market drivers, challenges and geographical segmentations, please see our Global Mobile NAND Flash Memory Market 2014-2018 report.
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