Global sales of NAND-type Flash memory for use in smart cell phones are expected to rise by nearly six-fold from 2008 to 2013, as shipments of the high-end cell phones boom in the coming years, according to iSuppli Corp.
Global revenue from sales of NAND Flash for mobile phones is set to rise to US$932.5 million in 2013, up from US$166.5 million in 2008. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 41.1%, compared to the 12.2% increase during the same period for the overall NAND Flash market.
"Soaring sales of smartphones, combined with the increasing density of NAND Flash in each handset, is causing sales of the memory in this area to boom," said Michael Yang, senior analyst for mobile and emerging memories at iSuppli. "NAND Flash makers can thank Apple Inc for starting this trend, with its iPhone models injecting new life into the memory market. However, with the introduction of a new generation of 'iPhone killers', multiple smartphone makers now are helping to drive NAND demand."
According to data from iSuppli, the market for smartphones is expanding at a much faster rate than that of the overall wireless handset segment. Smartphones will account for 26.4% of total cell phone unit shipments in 2013, up from 13.1% in 2008. The iPhone is a major factor driving this growth.
"Apple announced it sold 5.2 million iPhone 3G and 3GS models during its fiscal third quarter, which ended in June," Yang said. "Furthermore, Apple plans to introduce the iPhone in China, possibly early next year. This will open up the market for the iPhone to a new potential audience of 1.3 billion people."
The arrival of competitive products like the Palm Pre, the BlackBerry Storm and the Google operating-system-equipped T-Mobile G1 will further drive the expansion of the smartphone market.
Along with spurring the growth of the smartphone market, Apple has taken a leadership position in enhancing the functionality of these products by adding additional NAND Flash memory to its iPhone line.
The initial iPhone base model, introduced in January 2007, integrated 4 Gbytes of NAND. The latest version of the iPhone, the 3GS unveiled in June, upped the low-end model's NAND density to 16 Gbytes. The high-end 3GS integrates 32 Gbytes of NAND. The new iPhone killers, including the Pre, the Storm and the G1, all include 8 Gbytes of NAND. However, some models are increasing their NAND density to higher levels. For example Nokia's N97 embeds 32 Gbytes of NAND Flash.
iSuppli predicts NAND densities in smartphones will continue to increase. Due to this and the rising sales of smart phones, the average NAND density in all mobile phones will expand in the coming years. The average amount of NAND Flash in all mobile phones shipped worldwide will rise to 5.8 Gbytes per handset in 2013, up from less than 1 Gbyte in 2008.
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