With the new era of SSD arriving, 2TB SSD can be sold cheap

Source:   Editor: admin Update Time :2019-09-18

No matter how resistant people are, the 3D QLC NAND flash is becoming the absolute mainstream of solid state drives. The biggest advantage is that the capacity can be made larger and larger as the cost has reduced. Just as TLC flash has eliminated capacity under 240/256GB, QLC will lead SSD to enter the era of 500/512GB.


As a major main control company, Phison recently exhibited three "turn key" solutions, the controller + firmware + flash package combination, brand manufacturers can build their own QLC SSD with them.


Among them, PS3111-S11T, PS3113-S13T is for entry-level SATA 6Gbps SSD, PS5013-E13T is for popular PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSD.


Both S13T and E13T support Phison’s fourth generation LDPC ECC error check and other advanced features. This can improve the performance and maintain the long lifespan of QLC flash memory. S11T yet has no specific introduction, but it will definitely be simplified in function and performance.


Among the currently validated solutions, S11T is equipped with Micron N18 64-layer stacked 3D QLC, S13T and E13T are equipped with Toshiba BiCS4 96-layer stacked 3D QLC, their single capacity is 1.33Tb (170GB), and the flash type will continue to increase.


The starting capacity of the three schemes is 512GB, but the performance is very general at this level, especially the data writing can only achieve a usable level. If you want to have a good experience, you should get at least 1TB storage, of course, 2TB (1920GB) storage is the best.

Specifically, the E13T PCIe SSD has a continuous reading and writing performance of 1400-2100GB/s and 440-1700GB/s respectively. The instant reading and writing performance is 40K-160K IOPS, 98K-380K IOPS respectively, and for the S13T, the data is 550MB/s, 435 - 520MB/s, 280K - 480K IOPS, 320 - 360K IOPS respectively.


Phison expects that SSDs that based on S11T, S13T, and E13T programs will be available at the end of this year or early next year, and the price will be very attractive.


Besides, ADATA recently released a super tough three-proof mobile hard disk "HD830", which can withstand various tests such as high pressure, water dust and collision.


The ADATA HD830 has a standard 2.5-inch SATA hard drive with a capacity of 2TB, 4TB, 5TB in the middle, protected by three shields at the outside. The innermost shield is an exclusive anti-shock coating with implanted sensors and LED lights. It will have immediate warning when the disk subjects to impacts or data errors. The one after this shield is a pressure-resistant aluminum casing, and the outermost shield is a special silicone sleeve.


According to the official propaganda, the hard drive can withstand up to 3 tons of pressure. It can even survive after it is crushed by a car. Also it can withstand been dropped from up to 1.2 meters high, and stay under 2 meters of water for 2 hours.



Micro-USB 3.1 interface, with USB-A 3.1 patch cord, but the specific performance has not yet been disclosed. We only know it use SMR shingle storage, and has three protection performance. So, do not expect too much at its performance.

The price is not very expensive, the three capacity types are displayed on the US Amazon for $103, $152, and $196, respectively.



Thenm let’s talk about the price of flash memory.


Recently, Toshiba, the world's second-largest flash memory supplier, has suffered a power outage in its flash memory factory in Mie Prefecture, Japan. According to the rumors, a large number of wafers was scrapped. The impact of this incident on the global NAND flash memory market is yet unknown.


However, the general price trend in the NAND flash market is still downwards. Though the upcoming Q3 quarter is a peak season, it is still difficult to prevent the flash memory price from falling, and it is not easy to rebound.


The DRAMeXchange survey pointed out that as the Sino-US trade war heats up, the demand for smartphones and servers in 2019 will be lower than originally expected. In addition, CPU shortages in the first half of the year still have a slight impact on notebook shipments. Therefore, the output of eMMC/UFS, SSD and other products in the third quarter may not meet original expectation, the decline in contract price is difficult to stop.

In the first half of 2019, OEM focused on inventory reduction of various types of products, the need of stocking was weak. The average contract price of NAND Flash has fallen by nearly 20% for two consecutive quarters. It has not emerged rebound from price elasticity as the market expects.


Looking forward to the third quarter, DRAMeXchange said that despite the intense international situation, the demand situation will improve, the contract price decline will be smoothed. On the other hand, the suppliers are still in high inventory level, the shipment in the second half of the year may be downgraded, so it is not easy to see the rebound of contract price.


As for the mainstream eMMC/UFS and SSD, the demand from smartphone and notebook manufacturers is expected to increase in the third quarter. In addition, there has already undergone a large price correction in the previous two quarters, so the decline in contract price is expected to be smaller. The price drop will be smoother than the previous two quarters, with a drop of about 10%.


In terms of product manufacturing, eMMC/UFS, which dominates the mobile device market, will still mainly focused on 64/72-layer 3D NAND. The visibility of 92/96-layer 3D NAND is higher in the Client SSD, which helps to decline cost continuously.


As for the contract price of Wafer in the channel market, the current transaction price is quite close to the cash cost. The further price reduction for suppliers has limited space, so the strategy will be making eMMC/UFS, SSD and other product demand as the priority negotiation target. Unless the stock level is unbearable, there will be no positive action on the Wafer contract price. Some suppliers are expecting to lead the 256Gb product back to a profit level.


DRAMeXchange believes that due to the weak market conditions, Wafer's price rebound has little opportunity and the decline in the next few months is expected to remain within 5%.

 

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