Tablet trend likely to push memory chip makers to higher profits

NEW YORK, USA: While new tablet computers such as the iPad and PlayBook threaten to eat into traditional computer company's revenues, the introduction of tablets has benefitted the Memory Chip industry.

This arms race of mobile devices and tablet computers is creating faster new product cycles and consumer demand for them is as high as it's ever been. The Bedford Report examines the outlook for companies in the Semiconductor-Memory Chip Industry and provides research reports on Micron Technology and Rambus Inc.

Tablets use NAND flash memory with fast boot times instead of traditional hard drive technology. NAND flash memory products are electrically re-writeable and non-volatile semiconductor devices that retain content when power is turned off.

Flash is considered more rugged and faster than hard drive technology, which manufacturers view as an advantage for tablets, which need fast boot times and can easily be dropped.

According to a report from IT industry research firm iSuppli, high-speed NAND flash chips will reach sales totalling 1.7 billion gigabytes this year, tripling last year's 428 million gigabyte shipments. The sales forecast for NAND flash chips calls for up to 8 billion gigabytes by 2014.

In company news, this summer Micron Technology introduced the RealSSD P300 solid-state drive. The RealSSD P300 drive features the SATA 6-gigabits per second (Gbps) interface, bringing, what the company calls faster system performance and improved data integrity to enterprise environments.