Archive notice: This article was originally published on June 3, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
IM Flash has introduced the first NAND flash component with a process below 40 nanometers. The Micron and Intel joint venture demonstrated a 34 nm, 32 gigabit chip promising significant improvements, particularly cheaper, higher-capacity SSDs for mobile devices. Mass production is scheduled for the second half of 2008.
Micron’s Brian Shirley said the 172-square-millimeter component offers the industry’s highest bit density and could double SSD capacity, pushing compact 1.8-inch drives beyond 256 GB. Sixteen chips can create a 64 GB SSD, enough for up to 40 hours of HD camcorder footage, while each 300 mm wafer represents around 1.6 terabytes.
Intel spokesman Mike Cato said SSDs offer lower power consumption, silence and reliability but remain expensive—potentially adding around €1,000 to notebook prices. Better cost efficiency is therefore the main advantage, with reductions potentially around 50 percent once mass production is under control.
Intel is initially focusing on mobile devices from notebooks to Atom-based Mobile Internet Devices. Cato said desktop SSDs would likely become attractive only when prices reach parity with hard drives.
