14 DAY TRIAL // Remember the Asus Eee PC crisis that hit the market just before the Christmas shopping season? The Eee PC was really hard to snatch, and everyone was asking why Asustek had not produced even more units.
Well, first of all, Asus was not aware of the device's popularity at that time. Secondly, although Asus had the logistics for increasing production, newer units did not make it on the market, because the company had problems in acquiring the 7-inch LCD panels from its suppliers.
Although Asustek mentioned during the Consumer Electronics Show that it will ensure not to run short of parts this year, the company has temporarily stopped the 8GB Eee PC shipments in the Taiwan market. According to Asus executives, this is the result of tight supply of single-level cell (SLC) NAND flash chips and batteries, but the company ensured its customers that shipments are to be resumed in the shortest time.
Jerry Shen, Asustek president, admitted that the company is running low on single-level cell NAND flash (the main storage medium inside the Eee PC), but claimed that it's the battery shortage the company fears worst. Shen claimed that the 8GB Eee PC models will start shipping in one or two weeks. The 8GB model has been introduced on the Taiwanese market back in December, with shortages to occur immediately, because of the Christmas shopping spree.
The single-level cell NAND memory is much more expensive than the multi-level cell (MLC) chips of the same-density, because it is highly reliable and efficient. SLC NAND flash manufacturers are charging a premium for this kind of memory over the MLC chips because they are more difficult to produce.
SLC flash is mostly used in value products, while the MLC easily substitutes it in pen-drives or any less-picky storage media. If there is a great demand in SLC, its manufacturers will charge some more for the same amount, which would sabotage Asustek's estimations.