Text 17002, 71 rader
Skriven 2007-03-11 11:11:56 av mike (1:379/45)
Ärende: Apple May Use Flash Memory For Notebooks
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From: mike <mike@barkto.com>


http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=197801483

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Apple Inc. may sell zippy notebook computers later this year that use the same
type of fast memory as music players and digital cameras, driving down prices
of hard-disk drives, an analyst said Thursday.

The maker of the popular iPod music player and Macintosh computers hopes to
introduce so-called flash memory in small computers known as subnotebooks in
the second half of 2007, Shaw Wu, an analyst at American Technology Research
who has a "buy" rating on Apple shares and does not own any stock, said in
investor notes Wednesday and Thursday.

A shift to flash memory in place of much slower hard-disk drives would
eliminate one headache for consumers: lengthy start-up times when turning on
computers.

Apple of Cupertino, California, already uses flash memory in its iPod Nano and
iPod Shuffle music players. Flash memory is lighter, uses less power and takes
up less space than hard-disk drives.

Wu, who was among the first analysts to forecast the unveiling of Apple's
iPhone music player/phone earlier this year, cited unnamed industry sources as
the basis for his report.

"The time is right for the flash makers to make a move" as flash memory prices
decline, Wu said by telephone. "Apple, from what we understand, is pretty much
ready. The ball is in the flash vendors' court."

Apple spokeswoman Lynn Fox said the company does not comment "on rumor and
speculation". Apple shares were up 60 cents, or 0.7 percent, at
$88.32 in early afternoon trading on Nasdaq.

A transition to flash memory for computers could put pressure on makers of
traditional hard-disk drives including Seagate Technology, the largest U.S.
hard-disk drive maker, Wu said.

Apple, known as a technology innovator, would be among the first personal
computer makers to use flash memory for storing data in computers, a step that
some chip memory makers, including Micron Technology Inc., have said is
inevitable as prices for flash decline and storage capacity increases.

Flash memory chips have solid state circuitry that uses no moving parts, making
them less vulnerable to damage than hard-disk drives. Prices of flash memory
have been declining rapidly but are still higher than those for hard-disk
drives, Wu said, meaning early flash-based computers would be more expensive.

Apple would use a miniature version of its Mac OS X operating system in the
flash-based subnotebook computers, Wu said, again citing unnamed sources. The
computers could be introduced in the second half of this year, he said.

Shares of Samsung Electronics Co. -- the world's largest maker of so-called
NAND flash memory used in gadgets such as cell phones, music players and
digital cameras -- closed up 0.7 percent in Seoul. Toshiba Corp., the No. 2
flash maker, rose more than 5 percent in Tokyo.

Shares of Seagate were up 10 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $24.80, in early
afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
===


Hmmm... combine the flash drives with the LED backlights that have been
rumoured, and the next round of Apple notebooks could be interesting...

  /m

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