This should be the year of the solid state, flash-based laptop led by Samsung, Toshiba and Apple. Apple is said to be targeting the second half of the year for its introduction.
If you ask any of the NAND producers why they're confident that their huge increases in production capacity are sensible at a time of fast-dropping prices, they will reply that a number of new applications, NAND flash-based laptops being one of them, will soak up all the new output.
Indeed it is being rumoured that the manufacturers of flash-based laptops are holding fire on their introduction because they'd like to see process drop further.
That doesn't apply so much to Samsung and Toshiba who make their own NAND, or to Apple which shelled out $1bn in pre-payments to Intel/Micron, Samsung and Hynix for NAND supplies.
Since 32Gbyte is probably enough for an ultra-compact, ultra-light, notebook, and since 32Gbyte of NAND can be put into a laptop for around $160, it probably won't be long before 1.5lb, instant-on, twelve hour battery life laptops are on the market.
Amazing to think that Psion brought out a solid state, flash-based lap-top some 20 years ago.
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