Source: Semiconductor Industry Observer
Compared to many computer technologies, the development history of flash memory is relatively short, but it can be said to have rapidly grown in response to the demands of a huge and rapidly changing storage market.Originating in the late 1960s, the concept was proposed in the early 1980s, and it has matured over the past several decades. Now, let us turn back time to explore a glorious development history belonging to flash memory.1967.Dawon Kahng and Dr. Simon Sze from Bell Labs co-invented the floating-gate MOSFET, which is the foundation of all flash memory, EEPROM, and EPROM.1970.Dove Frohman invented the first successful floating-gate device—EPROM, which was widely popular for erasing stored software using ultraviolet light and was crucial for Intel’s successful launch of microprocessors.1979-81.Eli Harari, founder of the American flash storage developer SanDisk, was then employed by Intel and invented the world’s first electrically programmable and erasable memory—EEPROM, envisioning a future where floating-gate technology would replace disks, but the proposal was rejected by then-Intel CEO Andy Grove.1984.The father of flash memory, Dr. Fujio Masuoka, submitted an industry white paper on new applications of floating-gate technology at Toshiba, stating that the entire content of a chip could be erased in the flash of a camera.Later, Dr. Masuoka officially introduced flash memory at the IEEE 1984 International Solid-State Circuits Conference in San Jose.In 1986, Intel launched the concept of flash memory cards and established a department focused on SSDs.In 1987, Dr. Masuoka further invented NAND flash, also known as 2D NAND.1988.Intel recognized the enormous potential of flash memory and launched the first commercial flash memory chip, successfully replacing EPROM products, mainly used for storing computer software.On March 1 of the same year, Eli founded Sundisk (later renamed SanDisk), aiming to make flash memory more like a disk for data storage.1989.SunDisk submitted a system flash patent.M-Systems was established and soon introduced the concept of flash disks, which were the precursors to flash SSDs.That same year, Intel released 512K and 1MB NOR Flash.Psion launched a PC based on flash memory.Microsoft collaborated with Intel to launch the flash file system.Western Digital completely simulated traditional rotating ATA hard drives with a NOR Flash-based SSD.Subsequently, Samsung and Toshiba each launched NAND flash, which had faster erase times, higher density, lower costs than NOR Flash, and more than ten times the durability.However, its I/O interface only allowed sequential data access, suitable for large-capacity storage devices such as PC cards and various types of storage cards.In the early 1990s, the flash memory industry rapidly expanded at an unprecedented pace, with revenues reaching $170 million in 1991, $295 million in 1992, $505 million in 1993, $864 million in 1994, and directly hitting $1.8 billion in 1995.1991.SunDisk launched the first ATA SSD based on flash memory, with a capacity of 20MB.At that time, 10,000 IBM ThinkPad palmtop computers offered SSD service support to replace disks.Toshiba released the world’s first 4MB NAND flash memory.Kodak sold the first professional digital camera DSC100 for $13,000.Zenith Poqet and HP showcased palmtop computers using flash memory cards at a computer trade show.1992.AMD and Fujitsu launched the first NOR products.Intel introduced the second-generation FFS 2, 8MB flash memory chips, 4MB-20MB linear flash memory cards, and 1MB Boot Block NOR Flash for BIOS applications, which first used an internal write state machine to manage flash write algorithms.SunDisk launched the PCMCIA flash card.Since 1992, PCs began using flash memory for BIOS storage.1993.Intel launched 16MB and 32MB NOR Flash.Intel and Conner jointly developed a 5MB/10MB ATA flash disk.Apple began using NOR Flash in their Newton PDA.1994.SunDisk launched Compact Flash cards and 18MB serial NOR Flash chips for SSD applications.1995.SunDisk changed its name to SanDisk and launched the 34MB serial NOR Flash, which was the first MLC flash chip aimed at SSD applications.1996.Toshiba launched SmartMedia storage cards, also known as solid-state floppy disk cards.Samsung began selling NAND flash memory.SanDisk launched the first flash memory card using MLC serial NOR technology.1997.The first mobile phones began to be equipped with flash memory, opening up the consumer flash memory market.1999.NOR Flash revenue exceeded $4 billion.Toshiba and SanDisk established a joint venture for flash memory manufacturing.Micron announced that over 1 billion flash memory chips had been sold.2001.Toshiba and SanDisk announced the launch of 1GB MLC NAND.SanDisk launched the first NAND system flash product.Hitachi launched AG-AND.Samsung began mass production of 512MB flash devices.2004.The price of NAND first dropped below DRAM based on equivalent density, making flash memory cost-effective for computing applications.2005.Apple launched two flash-based iPods—iPod shuffle and iPod nano.Microsoft released the concept of hybrid hard drives.MMCA (Multimedia Card Association) launched MMCmicro cards.Samsung was the first to mass-produce NAND flash using 70nm process technology.Micron also launched NAND products.That year, over 3 billion flash memory chips were shipped.NAND total shipment capacity exceeded DRAM.2006.Flash memory revenue exceeded $20 billion.Intel launched Robson Cache Memory, now known as Turbo Memory.Microsoft launched ReadyBoost.This year was significant for SanDisk.The company announced the launch of NAND technology with 4-bit cell storage and microSDHC cards.At the same time, SanDisk acquired Matrix Semiconductor and M-Systems.Samsung and Seagate showcased the first hybrid hard drive.Micron and Intel officially collaborated to form IMFT for NAND flash manufacturing.Spansion launched ORNAND flash and announced the adoption of 65nm process technology for 300mm wafers.2007.Flash memory revenue surpassed $22 billion (NAND revenue was $14.5 billion).Toshiba launched eMMC NAND and the first MLC SATA solid-state drive.IMFT began shipping 50nm NAND flash memory.Apple officially launched the first-generation iPhone with 4GB or 8GB flash memory.Fusion-io announced the launch of the 640 GB ioDrive based on MLC NAND.BitMicro launched a 1.6TB SSD for military applications.Spansion acquired Saifun.Dell added SSD options to its laptops, with netbooks priced below $200 incorporating flash storage.Seagate launched the first hybrid hard drive—Momentus PSD.2008.SanDisk launched ABL to accelerate MLC, TLC, and X4 NAND.Intel and Micron announced the launch of 34nm MLC NAND.Toshiba first launched the 512GB MLC SATA SSD.IBM first demonstrated a “million IOPS” flash array.EMC announced the use of flash-based SSDs for enterprise SAN applications.Apple launched two generations of MacBook Air, equipped with 64GB and 128GB SSDs, with no hard drive option.Micron, Samsung, and Sun Microsystems announced high-durability flash memory.Violin first launched a full-flash storage device.Samsung announced the launch of a 150GB 2.5-inch MLC SSD.Micron launched the first serial NAND flash memory.Toshiba developed the 3D NAND structure BICS.2009.Intel and Micron launched 34nm TLC NAND.Samsung launched the first full HD camcorder with a 64GB SSD.Seagate entered the SSD market.SandForce launched the first SSD controller based on data compression.Virident and Schooner launched the first flash-based application devices for data centers.Plaint launched the first SAS SSD.SanDisk released SDHC and Memory Stick Pro cards with 4-bit cell storage.Western Digital acquired SiliconSystems to enter the SSD market.SanDisk launched a flash storage device claimed to retain data for 100 years.2010.Toshiba launched a 128GB SD card based on a 16-layer stack.Intel and Micron launched 25nm TLC and MLC NAND.That same year, Numonyx was acquired by Micron, and SST was acquired by Microchip.Samsung began producing 64 GB MLC NAND.Seagate announced the launch of the first self-managing hybrid hard drive—Momentus XT.2011.It was a year of acquisitions.LSI acquired SandForce;SanDisk acquired IMFT, Apple acquired Anobit, and Fusion-io acquired IO Turbine.Seagate launched the second-generation Momentus XT hybrid hard drive, which featured 8GB of NAND flash and 750GB of HDD storage capacity.2012.Samsung created 3D NAND and launched the first generation of 3D NAND flash chips, which was also the first 32-layer SLC V-NAND SSD—850 PRO.SanDisk and Toshiba announced the launch of 19nm flash supporting 128GB chips.Seagate launched SSHD that combined flash and HDD.Elpida launched ReRAM.Micron and Intel launched 20nm 128Gb NAND chips.SK Telecom acquired a controlling stake in Hynix Semiconductor, leading to the establishment of SK Hynix.Spansion launched an 8Gb NOR chip.SanDisk acquired FlashSoft.OCZ acquired Sanrad.Samsung acquired NVELO.Intel acquired Nevex and launched CacheWorks.LSI launched Nytro flash with MegaRAID CacheCade caching software.Micron launched 2.5-inch enterprise-grade PCIe SSDs.2013.Samsung announced the launch of 24-layer 3D V-NAND and showcased a 1TB SSD at the 2013 Flash Memory Summit (FMS).Diablo Technologies announced the launch of memory channel storage technology.SMART Storage Systems incorporated Diablo’s design into ULtraDIMM.Western Digital and SanDisk adopted iSSSD+HDD to launch SSHD.Toshiba launched a series of SSHD.Everspin announced the release of STT MRAM.The M.2 PCIe interface officially released the NVMe standard to accelerate communication with flash storage.Western Digital successively acquired sTec, Virident, and Velobit.SanDisk acquired SMART Storage Systems.Micron acquired the bankrupt Japanese chip manufacturer Elpida.Intel launched Intel Cache Acceleration Software.2014.Samsung, SanDisk, and Toshiba announced the launch of 3D NAND production equipment.SanDisk launched a 4TB enterprise SSD and also released a 128GB microSD card.IBM announced that its eXFlash DIMM utilized SanDisk ULLtraDIMM and Diablo’s memory channel storage technology.Samsung also began selling 32-layer MLC 3D V-NAND—850 EVO.2015.SanDisk launched the InfinitiFlash storage system.Cypress Semiconductor acquired Spansion.Toshiba and SanDisk announced the launch of 48-layer 3D NAND.Intel and Micron announced the launch of 384GB 3D NAND.Samsung launched the first NVMe m.2 solid-state drive and 48-layer V-NAND.SanDisk launched a 200GB microSDXC UHS-I card.Cypress launched a 4MB serial FRAM.Intel and Micron announced the launch of 3D XPoint Memory.Intel also launched Optane DIMM and SSD based on XPoint technology.2016.Toshiba released 48-layer TLC NAND for iPhone 7.That same year, SK Hynix released UFS products based on 36-layer stacking technology for LG V20.Wuhan Xinxin Integrated Circuit Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (XMC) opened the first NAND flash factory in China.Micron showcased 768GB 3D NAND.Western Digital acquired SanDisk for $19 billion.Everspin announced the launch of 256MB MRAM chips and 1GB chips by the end of the year.IBM released TLC PCM storage chips.Intel began selling 3D NAND products to the enterprise market, while Micron shifted to selling SSDs to the consumer market.In 2017, SK Hynix released 72-layer 3D NAND.Toshiba.Intel released Optane SSD.HPE (New H3C) acquired Nimble and Simplivity.Samsung and Toshiba/Western Digital released 96-layer 3D NAND.Micron released string-stacked 3D NAND.Everspin released samples of 1GB STT-MRAM chips.That year, Violin Memory, a veteran flash array manufacturer established in 2005, went bankrupt and was privatized, but has now returned to the storage stage.2018, Bain Capital completed the $18 billion acquisition of Toshiba’s flash memory business.Intel released Optane DC (data center) persistent memory.Samsung released the telltale Z-SSD.The National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Phase I invested 138.7 billion yuan in the domestic semiconductor industry, publicly investing in 23 domestic semiconductor companies.Yangtze Memory Technologies, a subsidiary of Tsinghua Unigroup, developed 32-layer 3D NAND chips and began mass production by the end of the year, planning to skip 96-layer 3D NAND in 2020 and directly enter 128-layer stacking.That year, hybrid flash startup Tintri filed for bankruptcy, and its assets were acquired by HPC storage provider DDN for $60 million.2019.Intel and Micron officially ended their 14-year partnership in NAND Flash technology, with industry insiders suggesting that Intel may consider collaborating with NAND suppliers to develop chips and/or SSDs, with SK Hynix prominently mentioned.That year, global public cloud giant AWS announced the acquisition of E8, a storage company based on NVMe over fabric (NVMe-oF) technology to create all-flash arrays. The ever-changing and developing flash memory market continues to move forward, and regardless, we hold immense expectations for the future of flash memory.
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