The iPad and the iPhone 4G are definitely the hottest products in 2010 and semiconductor makers are forecasting between 7 million and 8 million units to be shipped by the end of the year.
NAND Flash consumption for the iPad will account around 3pc of total NAND Flash consumption, said analyst firm DRAMeXchange.
“(In) 2010, iPhone shipment is expected to reach 40M units while NAND Flash consumption will account for 9pc of total,” the analyst said. “We believe the NAND Flash demand will be boosted by Apple products, which will likely result in the mild shortage in the second half of 2010.”
DRAMeXchange expect many PC-OEMs will start to penetrate into the tablet PC market. Compared with a million units sold at 74 days for iPhone, it took only less than a month for iPad to reach 1 million units sold.
“Generally speaking, we see seldom overlapping customer base from netbook and tablet PC. Furthermore, iPad offers brand new user experience in terms of multi-touch and software/hardware application rather than netbook. That is, we DRAMeXchange, expect tablet PC will create another new market after the netbook.”
In the 3D TV market, there are several developing technologies booming recently. With outstanding 3D image performance, the shutter glasses technology will most likely become a market mainstream. In addition, for coding/decoding technology, 2D+Delta is the mainstream for its high performance and file size capability.
As for Lenticular technology, in addition to performance and viewing angle, which need to be enhanced, the high cost involved in achieving 2D/3D switchable is also a major issue in its penetration.
Hardware-based 3D technology is expected to take off next year, though chips used are mainly those produced in-house by brand vendors. And demand for 3D will mainly be driven by movies and gaming. However, in addition to high prices of 3D displays, the prices of other peripheral devices are also high due to their low penetration, which makes viewing 3D content at home an expensive form of entertainment.
DRAMeXchange predicts consumers will have to wait another two or three years for the price of a 3D display to reach the acceptable sweet spot.
By John Kennedy
Photo: The Apple iPad
