14 DAY TRIAL // It would seem that Apple's hunger for memory is insatiable. Not only is the company eating up almost a quarter of the global NAND flash production, but now it is also gobbling up NOR flash memory, to the point where it is becoming a problem for other manufacturers.
Anonymous reports indicate that Apple's needs are preventing mainboard manufacturers from acquiring the flash memory they need to stay in business. It would seem that Apple has taken up all the production capacity of two higher-profile manufacturers of NOR flash memory, Spansion and SST. Because of the high orders Apple is making, factories from Macronix and Winbond, which are set to make the chips themselves, will run at peak levels for "months." According to the claims, there is no clear end to the production increase in sight and companies that have recently increased their production capacity, such as Macronix, are expected to profit from it.
Unlike the NAND memory used in many Apple devices for storage, the NOR memory is much slower but far more random, making it better suited for firmware or other applications where the information stored is semi-permanent and only sees occasional rewrites. Although no Apple product is suggested as being responsible for this increase, the memory could potentially be used in many Apple devices, be they iPhone, iPod or Mac.
Apple was already one of the biggest consumers of NAND flash memory, with an estimate quarter of the entire global production being used in iPhones and iPods. Other future Apple devices such as a new improved iPhone with 16GB of storage or the much-rumored sub-notebook could lead to the company eating up even more memory, much to the chagrin or small manufacturers who often find themselves waiting for stock. Apple's growing needs for memory have already caused slight increases in prices, which in turn have slightly eroded the profitability of some devices.