NAND in PC Hard Drives: More Than a Fast Starter

How will the Largest Semiconductor Market Impact NAND sales?

Phoenix, Arizona June 29, 2006 - NAND is poised to invade the PC, and users will hardly be aware-that's the finding of Semico Research's new report: "NAND in PC Hard Drives: More Than a Fast Starter".

With the introduction of Microsoft's new Vista operating system and thanks to initiatives by component suppliers including Intel, Samsung, and others, NAND will start to be designed as a cache between the PC's hard drive and main memory.

"This design provides certain compelling benefits, including faster response times, lower power consumption and improved HDD reliability," said Jim Handy, Semico's Director of Nonvolatile Memory Services. "But these benefits are more important to the OEM than they will be to end users. Semico anticipates OEMs to drive rapid adoption of NAND caches, whether in the HDD or on the PC's main board."

This study covers one basic technology that goes by several names: ReadyDrive, Hybrid Hard Drive (which was known by the code name "Piton" before it was announced), Robson, and External Memory Device (EMD), and relates to SuperFetch, ReadyBoost, and InstantON. Most of these are names for ways that Microsoft's new Vista operating system will use NAND as a cache between DRAM and the HDD.

The culmination of the study is a forecast showing the anticipated impact these technologies will have on NAND revenues through 2011.

At 25 pages, this brief but hard-hitting study is available for immediate delivery for $1,995. Copies can either be purchased on-line at www.Semico.com (reference NV114-06) or by calling Jim Feldhan at 602-997-0337 or jimf@Semico.com.

About Semico (www.Semico.com)

Semico Research Corp is a marketing and consulting research company located in Phoenix, Arizona.
Semico was founded in 1994 by a group of semiconductor industry experts. We have improved the validity of semiconductor product forecasts via technology roadmaps in end-use markets.

Contact:
Jim Feldhan
Semico Research Corp.
+1 602 997 0337
jimf@Semico.com