On the Verge of 5G, SanDisk and Micron Amp up Consumer Storage

on the verge of 5g
Shipra Sinha, Lead Analyst

Shipra Sinha, Lead Analyst

On the Verge of 5G, SanDisk and Micron Amp up Consumer Storage

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MWC Barcelona has been one of the biggest platforms for the entire business community around the globe to showcase new age technologies. The theme of MWC this year was Intelligent Connectivity. It showcased the latest in smartphone innovation,  the promise of Augmented Reality, and heralded the advent of 5G. In the midst of all the hype, and all the analysis, one key trend was overlooked, or rather underreported. How are storage trends changing? In a world where consumer demands exceptional performance, what do storage companies promise?

As per data from recent CMR Mobile Industry Consumer Insights (MICI) Surveys, smartphones are the primary device for consumers. Yet, they have not translated into being the primary choice for productivity in an always-on workplace. Interestingly, smartphones are getting more and more powerful. They can now hold as much data as that of a laptop, thanks to new product innovations with capacities of 1TB storage, from SanDisk and Micron. Of course, they come at a premium price! For the consumers, the 1TB microSD card translates into ample storage for 4K videos, pictures and games on their smartphones and other electronic devices.

MWC Barcelona has been one of the biggest platforms for the entire business community around the globe to showcase new age technologies. The theme of MWC this year was Intelligent Connectivity. It showcased the latest in smartphone innovation,  the promise of Augmented Reality, and heralded the advent of 5G. In the midst of all the hype, and all the analysis, one key trend was overlooked, or rather underreported. How are storage trends changing? In a world where consumer demands exceptional performance, what do storage companies promise?

As per data from recent CMR Mobile Industry Consumer Insights (MICI) Surveys, smartphones are the primary device for consumers. Yet, they have not translated into being the primary choice for productivity in an always-on workplace. Interestingly, smartphones are getting more and more powerful. They can now hold as much data as that of a laptop, thanks to new product innovations with capacities of 1TB storage, from SanDisk and Micron. Of course, they come at a premium price! For the consumers, the 1TB microSD card translates into ample storage for 4K videos, pictures and games on their smartphones and other electronic devices.

NVMe 1.3 protocol will enable advanced memory access mechanism and PCIe 3.1 will ensure less power consumption. Bus Mastering, Multi-Queue and Host Memory Buffer like key features are also enabled with this format. MicroSD express cards will hold high potential in gaming systems, multi-channel IoT devices, higher resolution 4k mobile videos, action cameras, and virtual reality as well.

This 985 Mb/s blazing speed can only be accessed if the camera or phone actually supports microSD Express. However, the new microSD Express cards will ensure legacy connectivity by enabling backwards compatibility with the older devices at a comparatively slower speed.

The format will be available as microSDHC Express, microSDXC Express and microSDUC Express with microSDUC Express offering a huge 128 TB capacity.

In Conclusion

As we step forward into the 5G era, characterized by speed and scale, and with advanced AI on devices, consumer demand for increased storage on mobile phones will continue to rise. The new solutions from SanDisk, Micron and SD Association pave the way for consumer’s hunger for more storage for their precious memories.

All things said, the pricing of the new storage devices, and its uptake will have to be monitored closely.

 

 

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