SANDISK BEGINS SHIPPING HIGH-SPEED, NEXT-GENERATION SOLID STATE DRIVES FOR ULTRA-HOT NETBOOK MARKET
SanDisk pSSD Drives Feature nCache -Large Non Volatile Write
Cache Technology To Boost Random Write Performance Five Times Over
Steady State Performance
Computex, Taipei, Taiwan,
June 2, 2009 - SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) today announced
that it has begun shipping its next-generation flash memory-based
solid state drives (SSD) for netbooks, offering high-performance
components at a competitive price. SanDisk® pSSD™ P2 and S2 employ
a new technology called nCache™, which improves netbook
performance. The drives will be demonstrated at the SanDisk booth
at Computex, Taipei, June 2-6, 2009: Booth # N709 Nangang Hall,
4th floor.
Netbooks are small, low-cost computers that offer consumers a
highly portable means of surfing the Internet, accessing email as
well as enjoying their favorite music and videos on the go. Market
researchers, IDC, project consumer purchases of netbooks to rise
from 11.5 million sold in 2008 to 50 million in
20131.
nCache: Advanced Technology for Faster
Performance
SanDisk's exclusive nCache technology is a non-volatile write cache
capable of supporting burst performance up to five times the steady
state vRPM2 to further enhance the user
experience3. nCache improves user responsiveness and
helps prevent incidence of "stalling" or "shuddering" often seen in
first generation netbook SSDs.
The SanDisk pSSD P2 and S2 drives offer 9,000 vRPM of steady
state performance in addition to nCache, which goes beyond this and
offers a non-volatile cache of up to 320MB* to support bursts of
random write commands maximizing system responsiveness. In
addition, because nCache is non-volatile, the user's data is
protected in the event of a power interruption.
"Full-featured operating systems make tremendous demands in the
storage device - writing large amounts of data in fast bursts using
small random transfer sizes," said Doreet Oren, director, product
marketing, SanDisk. "SanDisk pSSD drives with nCache offer up to 50
times the random write performance of our first generation SSDs,
delivering on the SSD promise for netbooks."
Strategic Collaboration to Lower Netbook
Costs
"As Netbooks migrate from retail stand-alone systems to
operator-managed devices, many mobile network operators (MNOs) will
consider Linux and netbooks with ARM processors for their low power
consumption, low cost and greater customization capabilities," said
Tim Bajarin, president and principal analyst, Creative Strategies,
Inc. "This enables key component suppliers to lower bill of
materials costs without sacrificing performance or crucial
equipment capabilities."
Engineers from SanDisk and Canonical, the creator of the popular
Ubuntu Linux-based operating system (OS), have worked closely on
system optimizations for the Gen2 pSSD, resulting in improved
system responsiveness and longer battery life.
"Canonical is enabling original equipment manufacturers (OEM)
and designers (ODMs) to offer consumers a fantastic user experience
with Ubuntu Netbook Remix running on netbooks," said Chris Kenyon,
director, OEM services, Canonical. "Our tests have shown SanDisk
second generation pSSD equipped with nCache performing
significantly better than a 5400 RPM HDD, providing Ubuntu users
with the speed and stability that they need."
SanDisk pSSDs are also ideal for use in netbooks equipped with
ARM processors like Freescale's i.MX515 device, which offers
impressive performance at costs that let OEMs and ODMs meet
critical price points. The processor's advanced power management
features extend battery life and eliminate the need for
energy-sapping fans or costly heat sinks.
"All-day battery life is critical in the netbook space, where
OEMs carefully evaluate each component for optimal energy
efficiency," said Glen Burchers, marketing director, consumer
segment, Freescale. "Like Freescale's i.MX51 processor, SanDisk's
pSSDs are designed with power management in mind, thus addressing
critical market requirements."
Availability
Available in capacities of 8, 16, 32 and 64-gigabytes (GB)*,
SanDisk second-generation pSSD drives are attractively priced for
segments such as Netbooks, POS terminals, printers, ATMs and other
applications where users need HDD functionality with improved
reliability, yet want to pay only for the exact capacity that they
need.
About SanDisk
SanDisk Corporation is the global leader in flash memory cards -
from research, manufacturing and product design to consumer
branding and retail distribution. SanDisk's product portfolio
includes flash memory cards for mobile phones, digital cameras and
camcorders; digital audio/video players; USB flash drives for
consumers and the enterprise; embedded memory for mobile devices;
and solid state drives for computers. SanDisk is a Silicon Valley-based
S&P 500 company, with more than half its sales outside the
United States.
* 1 gigabyte (GB) = 1 billion bytes, 1 megabyte (MB) = 1 million
bytes.
1. IDC, Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, June 2009
2. vRPM (virtual Revolutions Per Minute) - a metric
to compare SSD performance in client PCs with theHDD and with other
SSDs. vRPM = 50 / ((0.5 / 4kB random read IOPS) + 0.5 / 4kB random
write IOPS))
3.Performance based on internal testing and
projections may vary depending on host device.
SanDisk's product and executive images can be downloaded SanDisk's web site/home page
address:http://www.sandisk.com
SanDisk and the SanDisk logo are trademarks of SanDisk
Corporation, registered in the United States and other countries.
SanDisk pSSD and nCache are trademarks of SanDisk Corporation.
Other brand names mentioned herein are for identification purposes
only and may be the trademarks of their respective holder (s).
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements,
including expectations for new product introductions, technology
measurement standards, applications, features, markets, and
customers that are based on our current expectations and involve
numerous risks and uncertainties that may cause these
forward-looking statements to be inaccurate. Risks that may cause
these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate include among
others: the market demand for our products may grow more slowly
than our expectations or there may be a slower adoption rate for
these products in new markets that we are targeting, our products
may not be available at the prices, or in the geographies or
capacities that we anticipate, our products may not perform as
expected and the other risks detailed from time-to-time in our
Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports, including,
but not limited to, our annual report on Form 10-K and our
quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. We do not intend to update the
information contained in this press release.