Apple has ordered 100 million 8Gb flash chips

Apple has reportedly placed an order for 100 million 8Gb Nand flash chips with Samsung. The order could cause a shortage of nand-flash memory. It is not known what Apple intends to use the chip stock for.

The impending shortage of nand-flash memory becomes according to Digitimes sources are further strengthened by the fact that Nokia and Sony are also busy stocking up on nand-flash memory. The shortage is already being felt in the Asian market as Toshiba, Hynix Semiconductor, Intel and Micron Technology have scaled down their production capacity for that region.

The stock shortage is already affecting prices. According to market research firm DRAMeXchange, mlc-nand-flash prices rose 16 percent in the first half of April. The shortage will certainly last until the end of May, the research firm expects, because the major manufacturers of nand-flash do not plan to increase production. That would be detrimental to the price stability of flash memory.

The Digitimes article confirms an earlier report by ThinkEquity Partners, which appeared in February this year. That research agency suggested in its report, which incidentally focused on SanDisk, Apple had bought Samsung’s entire production through April. Apple has thus ordered twice as much memory as a year earlier.

It is not yet known why Apple needs the large chip stock, but the flash memory is expected to be used in upcoming versions of the iPod touch and iPhone. MacRumors in his Buyer’s Guide gives a negative buy recommendation for these devices as it expects new models to be released soon.