Posted on Saturday, November 12 2005 @ 13:35 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
Intel and Kingston were awarded seats at the MultiMediaCard Association (MMCA). This association was found in 1998 to define the physical, functional and interface specifications of MMC NAND flash memory cards. Besides Intel and Kingston there are twelve other board members, including Infineon, HP, Samsung and Nokia.
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.
More details over at
DigiTimes.
