Why Intel will benefit from improved NAND Flash Memory space
Intel's growth strategy and offerings in the PC market (Part 12 of 17)
NAND Flash operations—strong performance in 4Q14
In 4Q14, Intel’s (INTC) NAND flash operations exhibited strong performances due to electronic businesses picking up in European, US, and Chinese territories as they entered their peak season. It drove the growth of enterprise SSD (solid-state drive) shipments.
The average selling price, or ASP, in 4Q14 had a limited decline—compared to 3Q14. The bit shipments increased by more than 10%. In 4Q14, Intel’s revenue grew to $610 million. This was an increase of 25%—compared to 4Q13.
You can consider investing in the Market Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH) to gain exposure to Intel. Intel makes up about 19% of this ETF.
Samsung leads the NAND Flash space
According to DRAMeXchange, the global NAND Flash memory market grew by 2% to $8.75 billion in 4Q14. As the above chart shows, in 4Q14 Samsung (SSNLF) led the NAND Flash space with an ~28% market share. It’s followed by Toshiba and SanDisk (SNDK). They held a 21.9% and 18.2% market share, respectively.
Other players that made the top ten in this space included Micron Technology (MU), SK Hynix, and Intel. They held 13.7%, 11.4%, and 7% market share, respectively, in 4Q14.
According to DRAMeXchange, mass production of 16nm SSD products is expected to begin in the first half of 2015 in order to reduce costs. Also, 3D NAND Flash SSD products are expected to arrive by 3Q15 at the earliest.
Intel aims to launch 3D NAND for enterprise SSDs. However, there’s a strong possibility that consumer drives will be launched very soon thereafter. This is expected to establish Intel’s dominant position in the enterprise SSD space.
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