SSD vendors may have finally found a ''killer application'' for SSDs, which are based on NAND flash memories. The ultra mobile PC, netbook and related sub-notebook segments could become a big driver for SSDs, said Doreet Oren, director of product marketing for SSDs at SanDisk Corp.

In this segment, the SSD market could hit 33 million units by 2012, according to Gartner Inc. Ultra mobile systems sell from $250-to-$600. Acer, Asus and Intel are among the pioneers in ultra mobiles, which use SSDs.

SSD capacities in ultra mobiles range from 4-to-6 gigabytes. Many of the early models use single-level cell (SLC) NAND technology. Going forward, an 8-GB drive based on multi-level cell (MLC) NAND devices is expected to be the mainstream technology for netbooks, said Don Larson, product line manager at Intel Corp., during a presentation at the event. "Maybe 16-gigabytes [will be feasible] next year,'' he said.

There are still issues with SSDs in general. Prices for SSDs remain more expensive than traditional hard disk drives, SanDisk's Oren said. "SSD costs are coming down,'' thanks to die shrinks, three-bit-per-cell (x3) and related technologies, she said.

Other improvements are being made with SSDs. ''We seeing improvements in controller technology,'' said Todd Dinkelman, senior applications engineer at of Micron Technology Inc. ''Early shortcomings for reliability and endurance are being overcome.''

By: DocMemory
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