Intel ignores PCs with flash memory release

Chip firm?s two-bit-per-cell flash technology will be used in phones, cameras and digital assistants

Intel has confirmed that it will introduce flash memory products next year that will effectively double the capacity of current devices ? but cost will keep them out of computers in the near future.

An Intel representative said Strataflash memory was already sampling and would be available in volume next year.

The chip manufacturer has managed to increase capacity to two bits per cell to make its breakthrough. It sees the major applications for the product are in mobile phones, digital cameras and personal digital assistants.

According to Intel, higher specification 32Mb and 64Mb flash memories are rarely appropriate to PC devices because the cost per megabyte of flash memory is so high. In comparison, hard drives are fast and more cost-effective.

Although Intel was unable to give exact market shares, the company claimed that Intel dominated flash memory with about 60 per cent of the market. While the technology will start off at the 0.4 micron level, Intel will shrink it even further. The new devices will be backwards compatible with previous Intel flash devices.

But despite the company?s admission that it will not position its Strataflash products against PC hard drives, there will be some companies that use the products this way, particularly if they have heavy-duty requirements.

Dana Gross, executive vice president at M-Systems, said: ?Our software allows Intel Strataflash components to seamlessly emulate a hard disk. We believe this new two-bit-per-cell technology will drastically drive down the cost of flash memory products.?

Although it seems that the flash memory technology will be targeted outside of the traditional PC market, a similar technology ? fast static Ram ? is already used within the chip giant?s Pentium II family of microprocessors.