Flash group grows as founder SanDisk taps Micron Tech for Card

Electronic News, Feb 19, 1996 by Andrew MacLellan

Palo Alto, Calif.--In answer to the recent formation of the Intel and AMD-sponsored MiniCard Implementers Forum (EN, Jan. 29), the CompactFlash Association (CFA) tomorrow will expand membership of its de facto standards committee here, while CFA group founder SanDisk names Micron Technology as a second-source foundry for production of the CompactFlash (CF) Card.

The competing removable storage card standards, both ofwhich are vying for the slot as the industry's leading small form factor technology, appear to be heading for a showdown--that is if Intel and the other supporters of the flash translation layer (FTL) technique make good on their promise to deliver products based on the technology to market in the second half of 1996. Intel flash product manager Steve Rotz said last week in an interview with Electronic News that his company is currently shipping engineering samples of its Miniature Card and will begin volume production to OEMs at the end of 2Q96.

Meanwhile, SanDisk's CompactFlash (CF) Card is enjoying the limelight, having shipped more than 30,000 units in the last 10 months, according to the company. With several new product announcements pending, including a 4-megabyte card for a heart defibrillator designed by Cardiac Systems of Irvine, Calif., SanDisk claims it is amassing an insurmountable lead both in terms of its market share and the technological strengths of its MiniCard format.

Kicking off last fall with a dozen participants (EN, Oct. 16, 1995), CFA membership now numbers 30 systems, semiconductor, communications and consumer electronics companies. The newest members, expected to join tomorrow, are Hitachi, Sony, Sharp, 3M, Nikon, Asahi (Pentax), Pretec Electronics, Quantum Devices, Ricoh, Centennial Technologies and Thinstor. Norris Communications, which also is included among the list of newcomers, announced its support of the CF standard last month.

"We have a lot of users who will actually incorporate the CompactFlash Card into their products, and that's key," said SanDisk VP of marketing Nelson Chan. "I'm pretty confident we have a superior solution, but that is not to say the superior product always wins in the marketplace. That we know. But look at the number of market leaders who can make CompactFlash a de facto industry standard. That's a powerful combination."

Of the companies who have pledged to support the CFA-proposed standard, Hewlett-Packard and Konica also are exploring the MiniCard format.

"(These companies) have made it clear that since these are both emerging standards, they want to keep a foot in both camps," said Mr. Rotz.

Mr. Chan said digital cameras and PDAs which support the CF Card will begin to ship later this year. SanDisk has repeatedly touted its hardware-based standard as superior to Intel's emerging linear flash technology, citing ease of design-in, backward and forward compatibility, higher performance and the lower cost of the CF Card as it achieves higher capacities. Whether either side in the evolving debate will eventually move toward compromise is unclear, although executives at both SanDisk and Intel have said fundamental differences in the respective flash technologies would make any attempt at a hybrid technology unlikely.

"'It's tough to say," said Mr. Rotz. "Both are highly technical in terms of compatibility, and it's my understanding that the architectures are very distinct."

Increasing supply of the ATA-based flash devices, which are currently available in capacities up to 15MB, Micron Technology subsidiary Micron Quantum Devices will incorporate its own controller and memory technology into CompactFlash manufacturing, making it the first second-source foundry to adopt the CF standard. Four additional companies are expected to announce second-source agreements later in 1Q96, according to SanDisk. Other, primary source foundry agreements already exist with LG Semicon, NEC and Matsushita.