Speculation has circulated in the memory industry recently that Samsung Electronics is looking to phase out from the microSD card market in order to channel its resources into the production of embedded solutions, such as eMMC, eMCP and SSD devices.

　　Samsung reportedly will move to supply only wafers to a few customers, which will have to manufacture and assembly microSD cards themselves.

　　Samsung stepped into making microSD cards when the small-size cards started to see growing adoption among consumer digital cameras. SD cards were once widely used for data storage in DSCs. Toshiba and SanDisk then followed in the footstep of Samsung to tap the field.

　　However, profits for making microSD cards have shrunk gradually, encouraging Samsung to place more emphasis on embedded memory solutions used in smartphones and tablets, according to industry sources. Manufacturing products such as eMMC, eMCP and SSD devices now yield higher profits, the sources indicated.

　　Companies capable of produce embedded memory devices are usually supported by a steady supply of key components. Samsung with its in-house produced NAND flash, controller ICs and mobile DRAM chips is expected to bolster its competitiveness in the field, the sources noted.

　　Fellow NAND flash firms Toshiba, SK Hynix, Micron Technology and SanDisk have also stepped into manufacturing embedded memory devices for mobile devices, the sources added.