Embedded NOR flash memory market in 2011
is set to grow 8 percent to 3.96 billion units
Gaining from increased usage in a broad spectrum of applications
including currently popular tablet devices like Apple Inc.'s
iPad, the embedded NOR flash memory market in 2011 is set
to grow 8 percent to 3.96 billion units, according to new
IHS iSuppli research.
The other points reported by IHS iSuppli includes:
Unlike the dwindling wireless NOR sector for mobile handsets,
the embedded NOR market is headed on a steady path of expansion.
Shipments of NOR memory chips are up this year from 3.64
billion units in 2010, with stable growth of 7 to 9 percent
predicted each year on average for the next four years.
By 2015, NOR shipments in the embedded categories will reach
some 5.41 billion units.
The largest segments in 2011 for embedded NOR will be hard
disk drives and PCs, with both areas enjoying double-digit
market share. Hard disk drives, with anticipated shipments
this year of 526 million units, will account for 13 percent
of the embedded NOR market. The PC sector, with shipments
of 383 million units, will make up 10 percent.
Other high-performing embedded NOR segments in 2011 include
optical disk drives, with 333 million units or 8 percent
share; networking, with 277 million units or 7 percent share;
and TVs, with 245 million units or 6 percent share.
The highest growth for embedded NOR, however, will come
from the combined category for tablets and e-book readers.
Tablets like the iPad, and e-book readers like the Kindle
from Amazon and the Nook from Barnes & Noble, this year
will enjoy embedded NOR chip shipments of 80 million units,
up a whopping 196 percent from 27 million units in 2010.
And though the use of NOR flash memory in tablets and e-book
readers currently represents a mere drop in the bucket for
the embedded NOR ecosystem, shipments here promise to grow
exponentially in the next few years, figures show. Of the
20 categories in which NOR products are tracked by IHS iSuppli,
tablets and e-readers as a category will boast the highest
five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR), topping out
at 53 percent, compared to an average 8 percent for the
embedded NOR market as a whole. In comparison, the second
fastest- growing embedded NOR segment during the period
will be Bluetooth, with a five-year CAGR of 16 percent;
followed by automotive, with 10 percent; and gaining, also
with 10 percent.
The NOR memory market is unique for semiconductor devices,
given that its product base depends not so much on consumer
electronics but on electronics in general. As a result,
growth of the NOR market moves more in parallel with the
overall economy, rather than with any booming technology
in particular.
At present, the increased activity in traditionally stable
NOR segments is being led by the ongoing transition from
parallel to serial peripheral interface (SPI) chips. The
lower pricing of SPI, a key factor in boosting end-market
pickup, is one reason why 10 of the 20 embedded NOR categories
will have shipment CAGRs higher than 7 percent, IHS iSuppli
research indicates.
Product demand also plays a large role, with emerging markets
in various parts of the world accelerating their adoption
of amenities like high-definition TVs, notebooks PCs and
set-top boxes.
