MultiMediaCard Association Achieves Growth, Technology Advances and Market Successes in 1999; Predicts Momentum Increases in 2000
MultiMediaCards are increasingly being used to store audio, images and data in portable consumer and communication products
Updated 10:07 AM ET December 13, 1999
SUNNYVALE, Calif. (BUSINESS WIRE) - The MultiMediaCard Association (MMCA) has completed its final meeting for 1999 and is closing the year with a number of significant accomplishments. According to Andy Prophet, executive director of the association, "The MMCA has been very successful in 1999, achieving major gains in all areas of our operating plan. The association's efforts are clearly convincing manufacturers and consumers of the substantial merits of MultiMediaCards. The momentum we built this year will increase in 2000. This foretells our standardized memory cards soon becoming a leading removable, solid-state storage medium for compact portable consumer products. Toys, electronic books, global positioning systems, Internet music players, camcorders, digital cameras, smart phones are but a few of the products now using, or slated to use, our convenient, reliable, cost-effective cards."
Among the MMCA's many noteworthy accomplishments this year, Mr. Prophet cited the following:
-- MMCA membership now totals 60 companies--a 100 percent increase
from the same time last year--and membership growth is ongoing.
ARM, Compaq Computer, Intel, J.S.T., Matsushita, Mitsubishi,
Sanyo, STMicroelectronics and Symbian were among the companies
that joined the association in 1999.
-- Design wins for MultiMediaCards jumped in 1999, as a multitude of
significant, exciting new products with MultiMediaCard slots were
announced. The new products include a plug-in MP3 player for
mobile phones, ten Internet music players, a digital dictaphone,
an automobile navigation system and two digital video cameras.
-- The MMCA is looking toward the future, and thus has adopted a
technology path to 1.8-V operation. Details will be incorporated
in the upcoming Revision-3.0 MultiMediaCard specification
expected to be released in March 2000.
-- Manufacturers of future "Secure Digital" (SD) host systems have
announced compatibility with existing MultiMediaCards in
non-secure applications. Additionally, the MMCA is investigating
security features that could be incorporated into next-generation
MultiMediaCards.
-- The MMCA held two Developer's Seminars in 1999--the first in
Sunnyvale, California, and the second in Tokyo, Japan at the
World PC-Expo. Both events were very well received, with product
developers and software engineers from industry leading companies
attending. Similar events are planned for next year, including
seminars in Munich, Germany and Taipei, Taiwan.
About the MMCA
The MultiMediaCard Association is an international organization that promotes the MultiMediaCard, an ultra-small size memory card, as an industry standard for hand-held consumer and telecommunications products. The association is headquartered at 19672 Stevens Creek Blvd., PMB 404, Cupertino, CA 95014. More information is available at the association's web site: www.mmca.org |
