Samsung (Seoul) is also readying a monolithic 4-gigabit NAND-based flash-memory device this year, with an 8-Gbit part due out in 2006. The company recently described its 8-Gbit NAND part, based on a 63-nm process.

The efforts are intended to keep the company in the leadership position in NAND as well as the overall flash-memory market, said Tom Quinn, senior vice president of memory sales and marketing for Samsung's U.S. arm, Samsung Semiconductor Inc., based here.

Samsung produces both NAND- and NOR-based devices, but the company is the world's leading supplier of NAND. Meanwhile, despite the current slowdown, flash demand has not subsided, Quinn said. "The demand for us is very strong," he said in a recent interview.

It also indicates that flash-memory appears to be the main growth -- and technology -- driver at the company. In comparison, Samsung also plans to boost its bit rate growth for DRAMs by 50 percent in 2005.

The company is expected to grow faster than the memory markets in general. But at the same time, all memory markets are projected to decline in 2005.

The DRAM market was $16.7 billion in 2003. This market is projected to grow by 61.2 percent to $26.9 billion in 2004, but will decline by 14.7 percent to $23 billion in 2005, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). It will rebound and grow by 9.4 percent to $25.1 billion in 2006 and by 20 percent to $30.1 billion in 2007, according to the SIA.

The overall flash memory market was $11.7 billion in 2003. This market is projected to grow by 34.6 percent to $15.8 billion in 2004, but will decline by 1.8 percent to $15.5 billion in 2005, according to the SIA. It will rebound and grow by 3.2 percent to $16 billion in 2006 and by 14.7 percent to $18.3 billion in 2007, according to the trade group.

By: DocMemory
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