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Phase Change Memory Enters a New Phase
Report No. FI-NVM-PCM-0708, July 2008
After forty years in the research labs, phase change memory reached a
milestone in February 2008 when Intel Corp. announced it was
sampling a 128Mb phase change memory (PCM) device. The milestone
heralded a new phase in the long road to commercialization for phase
change memories.
The initial four years is expected to be the learning phase as
vendors struggle to manufacture PCM in volume at high yields and
OEMs modify firmware to take advantage of the fast performance and
bit-alterability of PCM. However, a combination of aggressive
advanced process technology transitions, physical cell size
reduction and multi-level cell functionality is expected to
accelerate cost reductions and make phase change memory a viable
candidate to replace flash memory in the next five years. Phase
change memory is forecast to growth at a compounded annual growth
rate of 164% from 2008 to 2015 and account for 80% of the code flash
market in 2015.
Phase Change Memory Enters a New Phase outlines the challenges PCM
faces as it vies to compete with mainstream charge-based memories.
The report provides a thorough analysis of PCM versus current
mainstream semiconductor memories such as SRAM, DRAM, NOR flash and
NAND flash. An update on the PCM activities of major vendors as well
as a market and price forecast out to 2015 based on a detailed
roadmap is also provided.
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