Flash Memory ICs Rev Up Consumer Mart

Designed for fast-growing consumer markets such as cell phones, MP3 players, and hand-held computers, a line of 256 and 512 Mb NAND devices are the result of a collaboration between Toshiba, inventor of NAND flash technology and the company. The NAND flash technology, used for high capacity data storage applications, is said have lower power dissipation, lower cost per bit, and higher capacity compared to standard NOR flash memory, commonly used for code storage applications.
According to the company, numerous MP3 music players come with a 256 or 512 Mb NAND chip embedded on the motherboard. In the future this type of flash storage is expected to penetrate new applications for embedded storage, such as next-generation cell phones, Internet appliances, and set-top boxes.
The 256 Mb chip translates into 32 MB while the 512 Mb chip is equal to 64 MB. Available TSOPs, the devices are priced at $58 for a 256 Mb device and $108 for 512 Mb chip, each/1,000.