Global SSD sales are expected to grow 60% on year in 2014 after nearly doubling a year earlier, buoyed by continually declining NAND flash prices, slimming-down of notebooks, and the rise of convertible tablets, according to Digitimes Research.
SSD products with a storage capacity of 60GB were the mainstream in 2012, but shipments of 120GB and 240GB models began gaining momentum in 2013, buoyed by falling prices. By 2014, 240GB models have become the mainstream, while the roll-out of 480GB devices is likely to drive a new round of shipment growth, said Digitimes Research.
Prices of TB-grade SSDs in 2014 are comparable to 480/512GB SSDs available in 2013. But the quotes for TB-grade SSDs are expected to drop further using TLC NAND flash.
Marvell Technology and JMicron both have launched new SSD controller chips for 2014 featuring improved performance and reliability, while SandForce is ready to release its new SSD controller chips.
Intel has recently launched its new series of chipsets that feature native support for M.2 SSDs, which is likely to encourage other memory storage firms to roll out related SSDs in the second half of 2014. M.2 SSDs support both PCIe and SATA interfaces and have a strong possibility of replacing 2.5-inch SATA SSDs, Digitimes Research commented.
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