In Flash Cards, Micro SD shall continue to be the winner

In the booming Indian

domestic market, both business and consumer segments will see a major

increase in requirement of memory and flash products like computer

memory, pen drives, and Micro SD cards. In the memory market we

expect that DDR-3 will take the center stage. The trend shall

increasingly shift to higher capacities 2GB/4GB DDR-3.

Simultaneously, the market shall see a flood of low-cost motherboards

which can take DDR-2 and DDR-3 slots. Most of the modules shall ship

at 1333MHz though netbooks, low-cost MB and some notebooks shall

continue with 1066MHz. There shall also be major surge in netbooks

and notebooks driving the SODIMM market at a faster pace than

desktops, even though desktop numbers will remain higher than the

other sub-categories. The market shall be increasingly driven by more

memory-hungry applications like multimedia, high-end graphics, and

movies.

In the pen drive space,

customers are expected to shift progressively towards 8GB from 2GB

and 4GB. A significant number of 16GB and even 32GB shall be shipped.

Pen drives shall increasingly come with 'Value-Added Incentives' like

password protection, invisible partitions and complimentary contents

including songs, movies and some free software.

In Flash Cards, the Micro

SD shall continue to be the winner. There shall be an increasing

demand of Adaptors to convert MICRO SD to SD. In this segment,

majority of the demand shall be for 2GB and 4GB. Mobile phones and

cameras will utilize progressively higher capacity bundled Micro SD

Cards. The market shall continue to demand preloaded content on Micro

SD, especially MP3 songs for the mass market. Prices of memory and

flash products are becoming increasingly similar to international

market rates. There is a significant shift in consumer behavior

towards quality products though lower-end urban market and

semi-urban/rural sectors continue to be price sensitive.

Distribution channels and

end-users/customers are becoming consciously aware of stable,

established companies that offer viable warranties in India as

opposed to cheaper unknown brands offering inconsistent quality,

which disappeared without a trace. Companies with significant

investment and focus on the Indian market needs will become

increasingly more attractive to the Indian customer. Besides the

shipment of the new products, the Indian market will experience a

growing demand for upgrading. Since outdated products continue to

find usage in the secondary market within India, there was a small

but significant demand of SDR LODIMM and SODIMM. DDR-1 also continues

to be sold in reasonable numbers.

In addition, the newer

operating systems/versions and many application software are

memory-hungry, driving the demand for memory upgrade. Stabilization

of Microsoft Operating Systems in recent past has also contributed

towards the memory-upgrade market. pen drive and flash cards have

almost become consumer products. The trend of preloaded content on

these and software distribution on pen drives is also driving the

demand in the marketplace. Electronic cameras and mobiles with

built-in cameras are also creating a pull for increased Micro SD

capacity in the market.