NOR solutions using the serial peripheral interface (SPI) will become the mainstream choice for consumer electronics products thanks to growing adoption among mobile handsets, according to Tung-Yi Chan, president for Winbond Electronics.
Chan acknowledged that there is rising demand for system-in-package (SiP) packaging for handsets, which are becoming smaller, lighter and more power efficient. SPI NOR chips, which are able to fit in small spaces, are replacing parallel devices for use in today's handsets including feature phones, Chan indicated.
Taiwan-based NOR chipmakers are actually leading the market for SPI NOR memory despite their less competitiveness in the overall NOR flash market worldwide, Chan pointed out. With demand for SPI solutions expanding, Winbond and its domestic peers could expand their presence in the overall NOR flash market, Chan said.
Chan made the remarks at a company event on October 15.
Winbond along with Macronix International are the major Taiwan-based NOR flash chipmakers. The pair's combined market share reached 15.8% in 2010, according to IHS iSuppli.
But in the SPI NOR flash segment, Macronix and Winbond took a combined 68.9% market share in 2010 reaching the top-two ranking, IHS data showed.