Apple's success with the iPhone and its requirement for flash memory chips could cause a global shortage of NAND flash chips.
This is the view of Carlo Ciriello, an analyst with iSuppli.
"If Apple Inc. even comes in 
close to its forecasted run-rate, there will definitely be shortages of NAND flash in 2010," Ciriello warned.
He's not expecting widespread shortages of NAND flash, says availability could be limited in 2010.
The upside of this for the market as a whole is that Ciriello believes this shortfall will be driven by strong demand and not just inventory corrections.
"With inventories having been brought down to equilibrium, these companies 
are expected to continue to manage stockpile levels expertly," said Ciriello.
The NAND situation looks very promising for the semiconductor industry.
The fab utilisation at all NAND suppliers is high and future pricing trend is expected to be up, according to the Arrow capacity and lead-time forecast, while no one's spending much on capex - meaning capacity will be tight for at least a year ahead.
See also: Toshiba flash sparkles