The MultiMediaCard Association (MMCA) gained two new heavyweights to its board, as Intel and Kingston Technology were awarded seats, according to sources at Taiwan memory card makers.

The MMCA was founded in 1998 and is an association for defining the physical, functional and interface specifications of MultiMediaCard (MMC) NAND flash memory cards. Not including Intel and Kingston, the are currently twelve board members, including Hewlett-Packard (HP), Infineon Technologies, Nokia, Renesas Technology, Samsung Electronics and Silicon Motion.

Industry sources indicated that there were four industry players looking to obtain the two new seats added to the board this year, with Intel and Kingston finally obtaining the seats.

Kingston was late to enter the NAND flash segment and the company has admitted that it made the wrong decision by delaying. The company now has the goal of increasing the proportion of its business coming from NAND flash to 30% this year, up from 18% last year, company sources noted. With solid support from Toshiba and Samsung, industry observers believe that Kingston should be able to achieve this goal.

Intel, on the other hand, has reportedly tried to jumpstart its NAND flash business by looking for a tie with Micron on flash production. Although Micron CEO Steve Appleton declined to comment on any potential partnerships with Intel, he did hint that a “partnership” is one way for Micron to make progress, according to a Reuters report. Even if Intel does not partner with Micron, industry observers see Intel’s move in gaining MMCA board membership as an indication the chip giant will extend its flash business.

By: DocMemory
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