SanDisk's founder says Apple's iPhone is increasing worldwide interest in sophisticated portable electronics and driving up demand for flash memory cards for the devices.
"What the iPhone is doing is showing the world that a cellphone is really a multimedia device," Eli Harari said. "And multimedia devices need more memory."
Harari shared the insight as Ducati riders did stunts outside of SanDisk's headquarters on Wednesday to mark the launch of a fast new line of flash memory devices named after the Italian motorcycle maker.
"Demand for consumer electronics, digital images and mobile phones is growing across the board -- in the Middle East, South Africa and Russia as well as in the Europe, the Pacific Rim and the United States," Harari said.
In spite of a hefty price tag of either US$499 or US$599, depending on memory size, analysts say Apple has sold between 310,000 and 700,000 of the gadgets since its US launch on June 29.
Now the question is which European countries will be first to benefit from the much-hyped touch-screen device, which combines the wildly popular iPod music player with a mobile telephone, e-mail and Internet access.
Harari expects the price of flash memory to continue to drop, making mobile devices more affordable.
The decline of prices will be more modest than the 60 percent plunges in each of the past two years, Harari said.
"We continue to bring the cost down but the rate is not sustainable," Harari said. "There is no question about it. The market needs to catch up."
Harari estimates the current form of flash data storage will last for a maximum of four more generations, about eight years, before needing to be replaced with new technology, making it vital to invest in innovation.
SanDisk is credited with inventing flash storage and bills the Ducati-themed devices as the fastest it makes.
SanDisk converted the parking lot of its offices in Milpitas, California, into a motorcycle track for the Ducati Edition line's debut.
Models in form-flattering red dresses delivered samples of the Ducati flash memory line on silver trays at a launch announcement complete with checker-flag covered seats.
The Ducati Edition line includes a flash memory card with a built-in USB drive to plug directly into computers and a flash drive reminiscent of a tiny red motorcycle fuel tank.
Among the motorcyclists on hand were Australian Casey Stoner and Italy's Loris Capirossi who race for Ducati on its MotoGP team, which SanDisk in January agreed to sponsor for two years as part of a co-branding partnership.
Retail prices on the line range from US$125 for a flash drive to US$315 for an 8 gigabyte CompactFlash card designed to hold data in digital cameras or other portable devices.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
UNWAVERING: Paraguay remains steadfast in its support of Taiwan, but is facing growing pressure at home and abroad to switch recognition to Beijing, Pena said Paraguayan President Santiago Pena has pledged to continue enhancing cooperation with Taiwan, as he and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait using force, Japanese media reported on Saturday. Kishida yesterday completed a trip to France, Brazil and Paraguay, his first visit to South America since taking office in 2021. After the Japanese leader and Pena spoke for more than an hour on Friday, exchanging views on the situation in East Asia in the face of China’s increasing military pressure on Taiwan, they affirmed that “unilateral attempts to change the