Fortuitously, a number of technologies, including four-bit-per-cell flash memory, integrated RF/baseband chips and single-chip NOR/NAND combinations, are coming to fruition to help drive down the cost of mobile phones, just when low-cost is needed.
Or is it that the huge, and fast-growing, market for low-cost phones has pushed companies to drive the development of low-cost technologies.
I don't know whether the technologies are driving down the cost, or whether the need for low-cost phones is driving the enabling technolgies..
But it's interesting to see Hynix and SanDisk get together to jointly manufacture msystems' four-bit-per-cell technology just as Spansion gets its four-bit-per-cell technology, which it calls Quadbit, to market. Spansion says it is sampling 90nm Quadbit now and will be in volume production next quarter.
Four-bit-per-cell flash should be a big cost reducer.
Another is the NOR/NAND combo on one die. It is expected that this will reduce the BOM of a handset's memory subsystem by 30 per cent. Announcements on this development can be expected soon..
Finally there's the RF/baseband integration for the single-chip phone. TI is the leader here, but Infineon's in the market too and Marvell, Qualcomm and ADI can't be far behind (if they haven't gone soft).
The cellphone's going to be cheap as chips.
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