Samsung raises flash memory bar

Samsung on Wednesday said it will come out with a 1-gigabit NAND flash memory chip next year. NAND-type chips are generally used in digital camera flash cards that can retrieve data at 108MB per second. That rivals the speed of NOR flash memory, found in the type of chips typically used to store applications and code.

It appears 2005 will be a pivotal year for the rapidly growing flash memory market. NAND specialists Samsung and Toshiba are trying to promote their chips for the NOR market, historically dominated by Intel and AMD, which are similarly pushing products into the NAND space. Samsung overtook Intel last year to become the top flash maker.