New Notebooks' Storage Using Flash Memory
March 8 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc., maker of the iPod music players and Macintosh personal computers, may introduce a new notebook this year that will save data on flash memory chips instead of a hard drive, American Technology Research said.
``Our sources indicate that Apple would like to introduce the product in the second half to further capitalize on its strong MacBook growth,'' Shaw Wu, an analyst at American Technology Research, wrote in a report dated March 7.
The release date of the lighter and smaller notebook computer may depend on how much prices of NAND flash memory chips decline as they are still seven-to-eight times more expensive than hard-disk drives, Wu wrote.
Chips are smaller than hard drives, allowing electronics makers to design slimmer products. They also process data faster and consume less energy than hard drives. In 2005, Apple used flash chips to make the iPod Nano, reducing the size of the company's flagship music player by 80 percent.
Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest flash memory chipmaker, said in March last year it built the world's first laptop computer that saves files on flash memory.
pcyhuang |
