Intel to help grow non-volatile flash biz to $40B by 2010

By Ann Steffora Mutschler -- Electronic News, 3/7/2007

Intel Corp. detailed plans Tuesday about how it plans to grow its share of the non-volatile memory business, predicted to reach $40 billion by 2010, from about $20 billion last year, according to Brian Harrison, VP of Intel’s flash memory group during a briefing at the chip giant's Santa Clara,Calif.-based headquarters.

Based on non-volatile memory density consumption growing at a 91 percent compound annual growth rate, combined with market opportunities in the cellular phone space along with new applications in computing, Intel is confident in its lofty goal.

In terms of NOR memory, Harrison reminded that Intel has already rolled out six generations of multi-level cell memory, and has a new M18 product family that is drop-in compatible between the 90-, 65- and 45-nm process nodes. Also, in Q4 2006, the company delivered its first 65-nm 1-gigabyte NOR chip – only a year after its 90-nm device – demonstrating a faster-than-Moore’s law pace.

And, in the NAND arena, in July 2006, Intel and Micron, through their IM Flash Technologies joint venture sampled the first 50-nm NAND flash chips, Harrison reminded.

Looking ahead however, phase-change memory (PCM) holds tremendous promise as it combines the best attributes of RAM, NOR and NAND: PCM allows write-over so data does not have to be erased first, fast write times, in-place execution and it is non-volatile. 90-nm working samples with standard sampling to occur in Q2, according to Ed Doller, CTO for Intel’s flash memory group.

The basis for Intel’s PCM is its work with Ovonyx since 2000, which the company has also invested in. Intel has also conducted R&D work with STMicroelectronics on PCM since 2003.

Doller explained that early results on multi-megabit arrays is promising with endurance demonstrated to 1e8, power consumption comparable to NOR and data retention of more than 10 years at standard operating temperatures.

Intel is “betting on” PCM and is aggressively working to create value that leverages what the technology offers, he added. Customer use is expected by end of year as OEM agreements are already in place.

Also, Intel today announced its environmentally conscious, halogen-free packages for its StrataFlash cellular memory products.

The halogen-free packaging for flash memory removes halogenated flame retardants from packaging materials, without impacting the performance or system reliability.

Glen Hawk, general manager for Intel’s flash products group noted that while this substance is not yet regulated, certain customers have asked for it. Intel believes it is the first company to deliver halogen-free technology in flash memory products.

Sony Ericsson said it has already integrated Intel’s halogen-free parts into production models that are being sold globally.