M-Systems Developing the MegaSIM Card Module -- Innovative, Secure, High-Capacity Data Storage Solution for the Cellular Market
Tuesday October 19, 8:00 am ET
New Version of SIM Cards is Designed to Offer Increased Functionality, Efficiency and Revenue Opportunities to Mobile Service Providers
SUNNVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 19, 2004-- M-Systems (Nasdaq:FLSH - News) unveiled plans to introduce the MegaSIM(TM) card module, a fully compatible (U)SIM (universal subscriber identity module) card with commercial availability in the second half of 2005. For the first time in the cellular market, a SIM card will combine high-capacity flash-based storage, with densities reaching 256 Megabytes, and advanced security features to enable a variety of compelling mobile applications.
As mobile handsets increase their multimedia capabilities, and service providers begin implementing broadband mobile service, the need for secured, scalable and configurable high-capacity storage becomes acute. The MegaSIM card module will enable SIM card vendors to provide their mobile operator customers with a (U)SIM card enabling a variety of advanced mobile services such as MMS, MP3 and video clips downloading, full PIM functionality, and high-resolution picture storage.
The MegaSIM card module, like any standard SIM card, can be used by all 2G and 3G GSM service providers for user identification and authentication and to store phone settings and numbers. Unlike other SIM cards in the market, the MegaSIM card, with its enhanced, secure storage capacity, will free mobile network operators and handset vendors from the need to bundle the memory cards that are used in many feature and smart phones.
The main advantages of M-Systems' MegaSIM card module will be:
Secure, integrated storage for distribution of rights-protected content and services
Backwards compatibility with cellular industry standards
Ubiquity -- Most phones have or will have a (U)SIM or UIM slot
Space and cost savings compared to a two-card (SIM card + memory card) combination
Scalability -- A 16-256MB solution for the mass market's need for memory, with higher capacities to follow
Convenience -- User and carrier data can easily be moved to a new cellular phone in a standardized way during upgrades or other phone changes
"Industry analysts expect that over 800 million SIM cards will be sold in 2004. We see this market as a future growth engine, leveraging the company's security and flash memory management expertise to bring real value and new revenue opportunities to the mobile network operator community," said Dov Moran, president and CEO of M-Systems.
"We believe that the integration of SIM card functionality with secured, high-capacity data storage offers a better, more secure data solution as well as cost advantages over the pairing of memory cards and SIM cards," said Mishael Agami, general manager of M-Systems' Data Trust division. "The introduction of the MegaSIM card will be an important catalyst in the migration to enhanced SIM cards, which we anticipate will lead to increased data usage, enable new revenue streams for mobile operators, enhance service differentiation and enrich the operator-user relationship."
According to Jon Collins of analyst firm Quocirca: "This is about more than increasing storage capacities onto mobile phones. Many service providers face a dilemma, as the key demographic group willing to pay for services, is not equally prepared to pay for handsets. Mobile operators are looking increasingly to handset designs that support the delivery of new services in the most cost-effective fashion. The inclusion of additional memory on the SIM enables the development of handsets to be simplified, as well as presenting more options for how services are rolled-out and used. For the enterprise market, it also ensures that information can be stored on the handset more safely, and centralized management and control can be implemented across a wider range of handsets." |
