SanDisk Embedded Flash Memory to Move to 19nm in 2Q12

SanDisk Corporation announced that the iNAND Ultra line of products will be the first of its embedded flash memory products to move to 19nm manufacturing technology, the industry’s most advanced chip making process.

Advanced Manufacturing and Packaging
Enables Slim, Powerful Mobile Devices
Shrinking the size of electronic circuitry allows equipment makers to develop products with larger storage capacities, providing consumers the ability to enjoy more content on smartphones, tablets and other electronic devices. A nanometer measures one-billionth of a meter, meaning that 19nm circuit lines are so small that about 3,000 of them could fit across the width of a human hair.

iNAND Ultra solutions are used by mobile device makers around the world. The e.MMC (standards-based embedded mobile interface) devices built on SanDisk’s 19nm technology will use the company’s two-bit per cell technology – SanDisk’s tenth generation of multi-level cell products. Sleeker, slim form factor product designs are also enabled by SanDisk’s packaging technology that provides up to 64GB of storage capacity in a package 11.5mm x 13mm in size. Advanced packaging techniques allow SanDisk to offer certain capacities in packages as thin as 1mm.

"The iNAND Ultra products will be the first of our three iNAND embedded flash memory families to migrate to leading-edge 19nm process technology in 2012," said Amir Lehr, vice president, Embedded Memory Business. "SanDisk’s advanced manufacturing and packaging expertise allows us to support increased storage capacities and smaller device footprint requirements to meet the growing demand for sleeker, more feature rich mobile devices."

Fast Performance and Tight Host Integration
iNAND Ultra products are optimized for current and future generations of leading mobile operating systems such as Google Android and Windows Mobile. This hardware optimization for key operating systems combined with random performance characteristics help provide consumers with mobile devices that are highly responsive and deliver browsing and multitasking performance.

The new products feature up to 20 megabyte per second (MB/sec) sequential write and up to 80MB/sec sequential read performance. In addition, SanDisk works closely with major OEMs and chipset vendors to ensure the integration required between the host device and embedded flash memory.

Segmented Product Portfolio
Meets the Needs of All Mobile Devices
As smaller, more powerful mobile devices have proliferated throughout the consumer electronics market, the use of flash memory has expanded from mobile phones and tablets to enable new products and new usage models. The SanDisk iNAND family includes iNAND, iNAND Ultra and iNAND Extreme products.

Availability
iNAND Ultra products will initially be available in 8GB to 64GB capacities with samples expected to be available to customers in the first quarter of 2012. Volume production is expected in the second quarter.