Most NAND flash device makers posted flat performance in August, but makers believe sales of new iPhones as well as other new smartphones, tablet PCs and ultrabooks will stir up demand in September-October.

NAND controller IC supplier Phison Electronics saw its August revenues decrease 5.6% sequentially but rise 7.7% on year to NT$2.88 billion (US$96.84 million). For the first-eight months of 2012, revenues amounted NT$22.19 billion, increasing 6.6% from a year earlier.

Phison expects sales to rebound starting September as NAND flash demand will pick up on the upcoming rollouts of new smartphones and tablets. However, Phison is conservative about the outlook for the SSD segment in the fourth quarter, but expects demand for SSDs to stage a major takeoff in 2013.

The supply and demand situation of NAND flash products is expected to remain steady in the second half of 2012, buoyed by demand for memory products from China due to the government's subsidy programs, and production cuts by some NAND flash vendors, said industry watchers.