To: orkrious who wrote (9095 ) 2/5/2000 9:12:00 AM From: Ausdauer Read Replies (2) | Respond to
Jay,Flash Memory: semibiznews.com Flash growth is being driven by four key applications, according to Bryant. MP3 audio will record a 72-fold growth in bits between 1999 and 2003 , he predicts. One million MP3 players were sold in 1999, and this market will grow to 10 million by 2003, Bryant forecasts. Each system needs about 1 megabyte of flash to store a minute of music, and playback times are rising, he notes. While 64 MBytes is the typical size of today's MP3 players, this could increase to 512 Mbytes by 2003. Cellular phone demand will shoot up 100 times by 2002 , Bryant expects. In 1998, 160 million cell phones were shipped worldwide, and shipments should grow to 1 billion units by 2002. A cell phone built in 1998 contained an average of 4 megabits of flash memory, he says, and its flash content has been doubling yearly. The amount of flash per cell phone should grow to 64 megabits by 2002, he predicts, which would mean a 64-billion-bit market. Digital cameras are expected to fuel a 130-fold increase in flash bit consumption by 2003. ?For things to take off,? Bryant adds, ?we will need cameras in the $200-to-$300 range with 2-Mpixel image quality; we'll see this by late 2000,? he predicts. Set-top boxes are expected to account for a 36-fold growth in flash bits between 1998 and 2003. ?We're now beginning to see exponential unit growth in installed boxes,? adds the Atmel vice president.
