Worldwide Flash Memory Card and USB Flash Drive 2004 Vendor Shares

Abstract

This IDC study highlights the revenue and unit market share for flash memory card and USB flash drive manufacturers in 2004. In 2004, the flash memory card market grew 43% in revenue year over year to reach $5 billion. The UFD revenue grew 89%. While 2004 marked the year of product portfolio diversification into the MP3 market, flash card and UFD vendors will distinguish themselves in 2005 by portfolio diversification to include innovative security and software-enabled intelligent flash drives.

"As territory battles and price competition in the flash card and UFD markets continue, it will be increasingly important for the remaining flash card vendors to position themselves for survival by ensuring they have the intellectual property, secured NAND supply, and product engineering teams in place to quickly react to the consumer market needs of the near future," said Celeste Crystal, senior research analyst, IDC Semiconductors.