Web-Feet Research Forecasts IoT to Big Data to 3D in Thirteenth Annual Flash Memory Applications and Markets Report

How will Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data and 3D NAND SSDs impact Flash consumption in 2015 and beyond?

MONTEREY, CA., December 3, 2014 – Web-Feet Research, Inc. provides an extensive market segmentation in its thirteenth annual report on Flash Memory Applications and Markets, (CS100FA-2014). This major update provides an integrated memory/storage end-use market segmentation in the consumer, mobile and computing markets and forecasts the NAND and NOR usage in over 170 end-use applications.  Some of the new applications forecast the rise of wearable computing as found in the AppleWatch or Smart Watch, IoT and 3D NAND SSDs. As the NAND technology evolved so did its markets. Beginning with basic media file storage in consumer applications the NAND grew in usage. Mobile storage in Smart phones needs more sophisticated Flash in performing execute-in-place and more reliable storage. Computing requires the utmost performance from the NAND, while SSDs and caching like the ULLtraDIMM gain acceptance as they provide more reliability and the highest performance.  NOR should see a mild rebound with high speed twin-Quad or HyperFlash Serial NOR initiating the connection for the Internet of Things in over 22 billion Intelligent Connected devices in 2019.

In the Flash Memory Applications and Markets forecast, Web-Feet Research provides a density breakout by revenue, units, and Mbits for SLC NAND, 2-bits per cell NAND, 3-bits/cell and enterprise 2-bits/cell NAND, SPI NAND, Combo (MCP) NAND and 3D NAND; NOR, MLC NOR, serial NOR, Combo NOR and serial Combo NOR; and Phase Change Memory.  The forecast period includes 2012 and 2013 historical and 2014-2019 projections.  A special section breaks out the serial NOR by over 30 applications including the major use of quad/plus IO serial NOR components.  In addition, the compute market examines the use of Flash cache, Server-side SSDs and SSDs for the client, commercial, and enterprise end-use markets.  The GB consumption is also forecast by memory/storage end-use market and shows when computing becomes the Flash consumption market share leader.  Finally, the 2013 Flash Market Shares by Vendor is included showing how the players have changed position based on acquisitions and improved pricing to reach $30.9 billion in total Flash and $28.1 billion in NAND. 

The Flash Memory Applications and Markets: 2012-2019 report, CS100FA-2014, (321 pages) is available for purchase from WebFeet Research in electronic and hard copy at $5.95 K.

About WebFeet Research   

Headquartered in Monterey, California, WebFeet Research provides business consulting and market research services in the memory and storage markets, with a focus on nonvolatile memory and solid state storage technologies. For further information, please contact:

Alan Niebel

w3.webfeetresearch.com

alan.niebel@web-feetresearch.com

Embedded Flash Drive, eMMC/UFS Storage Applications Accelerate Market Growth

Mid Density NOR, Serial NOR, and SPI - SLC NAND Offer Growth Tradeoffs

MONTEREY, CA., July 31, 2014 - WebFeet Research, Inc. has released its revised annual report on the Embedded Flash Drives, eMMC/UFS and SPI-SLC NAND: 2012-2019 (SS450EFD-2014).  The main theme of the forecast covers  Embedded Flash Drives (EFD) eMMC and UFS that provide internal storage functions in mobile, consumer and some compute applications.  Although EFDs tend to provide NAND solutions at 2GBs and above, another storage theme explores the mid-density 256Mbit to 8Gbit battle between NOR, Serial NOR, SLC NAND and SPI NAND.

EFDs are the non-removable Flash storage positioned between Flash cards, found in many of these same applications as SSDs.  As EFDs evolved mainly through versions of eMMC, it became apparent that as SSDs were able to improve their SATA interface speed, mobile eMMC EFD storage lagged far behind.  In order for the EFD to evolve, a new interface was needed that would take on many controller features found in serial high speed SSDs and still keep its mobile  low power budget. UFS at 6Gbps+ provides a better user experience, high speed serial interface PC sync with fast response, high efficiency, and low latency of a SSD combined with the small form factor and low power usage of a mobile device.

This EFD report provides an in-depth analysis of the market and applications for internal Flash storage sub-systems, including the emNAND (embedded NAND components), the EFDs along with their use characteristics of the Flash component technologies and eMMC/UFS.  emNAND is found in over thirty end applications, which includes twenty two applications that use EFDs.

The mid-density storage market presents a quandary in terms of which features of the four Flash memories: NOR, serial NOR, SLC and SPI NAND best suit the twenty different mid-density applications. Component unit forecasts by each density (256Mb – 8Gb) and each application are discussed from 2014-2019, which has never been presented before.

The EFD (UFS) market revenue growth is expected to reach $18.8B in 2019.  In support of these numbers, EFD unit and revenue growth will be driven heavily by mobile Smart and Smart Entry handsets, Tablets, Portable Media Players, Digital Camcorders, Wearables (IoT), automotive and others along with the adoption of Flash cache in notebook and desktop PCs.   NAND Flash technology: SLC, MLC, and 3-bit per cell will each be used for the design-in for these different applications based on the NAND use characteristics matched to each applications’ usage needs.

All the known EFDs, eMMC, iNAND, and UFS to name a few, are profiled in the full report, SS450EFD-2014, 144 pages.  In addition, the report is segmented into the definition, development, and market applications of EFD Storage.  The next sections focus on the market forecasts by application for EFDs and their respective NAND components, the EFD profiles and a summary of EFDs by storage capacity for revenue, units, ASPs, and MBs. Finally, eMMC and UFS after 2016, the main subset of EFD, will be forecast by its NAND revenue and units by twenty+ applications and by vendor market share.  

This report, SS450EFD-2014 is indispensible for any company involved with the Flash storage market and especially eMMC/UFS or Mid-Density Flash. It is available through Web-Feet Research in electronic and hard copy. For further information, to obtain the EFD report, please contact: Alan Niebel (alan.niebel@web-feetresearch.com) at 831.373.1985   

WebFeet Research finds 2013 NAND Flash Memory Components Market Revenues Improved to $28B

Monterey, CA - April 8, 2014 – After consolidating its annual results of each Flash memory vendor’s quarterly shipments, WebFeet Research found the 2013 Flash memory market to be $30.8 billion, an increase of 10.5% from 2012.  A substantial increase in 2013 revenues came from the NAND Flash market, while the NOR market ($2.75 billion) contracted dramatically from 2012. Samsung was once again the 2013 revenue market leader for all NV Memories and NAND, Micron remained the NOR market leader, and Winbond claims the serial NOR leadership position. This report discusses the impact of the SanDisk – SK Hynix lawsuit on the memory market, how the migration to 3D NAND is progressing, how fast are the emerging NVM growing, and presents two forecasts for serial EEPROM showing the impact of the Internet of Things (IoT) in its aggressive scenario.  

WebFeet Research utilizes its Flash Memory Reporting Association to consolidate the reported shipments from the seventeen Flash manufacturers.  Both the Toshiba and SanDisk, Micron and Intel shipments are calculated separately from each other and do not include any portion of the other’s component revenues.  In this consolidation, the Flash memory component shipments are segmented by NOR, serial NOR, MLC NOR, Combo NOR, and by SLC NAND, MLC NAND, eMLC NAND, TLC NAND, and Combo NAND for all capacities: 512Kbit-128Gbits for standalone components and 8Mbit – 64Gbit for the Combo (Flash + xRAM) or MCP devices.    

The 2013 Non Volatile Memory Market Shares by Vendor report, CS700MS-2014, includes market shares by vendor for total Non Volatile Memory, NAND Flash, NOR Flash, serial NOR Flash, total EEPROM, serial EEPROM, parallel EEPROM, OTP ROM (EPROM and Mask ROM), and NVRAM (BBSRAM, NVSRAM, RTC, MRAM, FeRAM, PCM, RRAM and Others).  Annual revenue forecasts are provided from 2012-2019 for the EEPROM, OTP ROM, and NVRAM markets. In addition, the NVSRAM market shares are broken out by vendor for Real Time Clocks (RTC) and NVSRAM from 2008-2013.  This report, CS700MS-2014, is available for $2.5K and for providers of the market share data they can obtain the report with a $500 discount.  WebFeet Research also has forecast the serial EEPROM (conservative and aggressive) and the NVSRAM (BBSRAM/nvSRAM, RTC) from 2011-2019 by density for revenue, units, and ASPs, and for the serial EEPROM by interface type.  Each of these additional forecasts are priced at $500 and come in excel format.