Apple iPhone begins sourcing NAND flash chips

It is expected that Micron would kick off volume shipments of NAND flash
chips using 34nm process to Apple in August

Even as headlines are being made about Micron Technology turning a NAND flash
supplier for the Apple iPhone 3GS, Hynix Semiconductor's 41nm NAND flash has
passed the validation process for the popular smart phone.

It is expected that Micron would kick off volume shipments of NAND flash
chips using 34nm process to Apple in August. It may be, in the meantime,
recalled that Apple had recently inked a long-term supply agreement with
Toshiba, prepaying half a billion US dollars for NAND chips. Significantly
enough, Toshiba had thereby posted the biggest single design-win in the smart
phone, with its 16GB multilevel-cell (MLC) NAND flash costing US$24 . Toshiba
was expected to begin mass production of its NAND chips fabricated with 32nm
technology most probably by the second half of year 2009.

Industry research has revealed that Apple is most likely to source NAND flash
from other manufacturers too. One prominent name doing the rounds is Samsung
Electronics. According to a related report, Samsung has started sampling
35nm-made NAND flash chips with its controller IC design partners. Samsung is in
fact the world's top NAND flash producer and has delivered its 42nm parts. This
lags Hynix' 41nm and Micron's 34nm processes, said the report.

Source: CIOL