Businesses hold key to channel success in booming SSD market

SSDs are used in fighter jet nose cones

Businesses are becoming increasingly hungry for solid state drive (SSD) technology, despite consumer demand taking a nosedive due to soaring flash memory prices, iSuppli has claimed.

The analyst firm has predicted a lucrative opportunity for the channel, with SSD revenue in 2009 expected to rocket to $883m, up from $127m in 2008, and unit shipments growing to 5.8 million units, up from 1.4 million in 2008. It is also forecasting the total market for SSDs will hit $10.8bn by 2013, representing a CAGR of 142.8 per cent from 2008. Unit shipments will reach 65.2 million by 2013, up from 1.4 million units in 2008.

Traditionally, SSD has been popular with the military and manufacturing sectors because having no moving parts makes it more robust. It is used in fighter jet nose cones, fridges/freezers and even nuclear warheads. But the technology is set for wider adoption.

iSuppli claimed SSD vendors are confident that 2010 and 2011 will be strong years for the technology as datacentres and IT infrastructures increase adoption. This in turn should pave the way for a resurgence in notebook SSD demand by driving down overall system prices.

Michael Yang, senior analyst for storage and mobile memory at iSuppli, said: “The rise in the cost of Nand flash memory in Q2 has caused SSD prices to jump, making them uncompetitive with hard disk drives (HDD) and derailing their acceptance in notebook PCs.

“Nand flash is the critical component of an SSD, accounting for about 90 per cent of its value. However, for enterprise datacentres seeking to expand their
capabilities while lowering their overall power consumption, SSDs remain an attractive option.”

Phil Pace, sales director at distributor Simms International, said: “In the notebook and desktop space, the release of Kingston’s V-Series memory has caused the market to take off for us. We are also still seeing huge take-up, particularly in areas
such as defence and manufacturing.”

Tony Riccardi, sales director at system builder MESH, was also positive about SSD.

“The drop to a new process means performance improvements as well as cost
savings,” he said. “We are expecting most MESH systems to boot from an SSD
by Christmas.”

Charanjit Kohli (CK), owner of system builder YoYoTech, agreed that SSD was the
way forward.

“I do not see HDD going away, but at the high-end and for long battery-life notebooks, SSD is the best way to go,” he said. “Unless you are downloading films or editing video for a living it is already hard to fill an 80Gb drive.”