Toshiba Is Going into Flash Overdrive: Is Apple Ramping Up?

By Nicholas Deleon

New iPods usually come out in September, right? There or thereabouts, at any rate. Well then maybe we should look into this report that says Toshiba will “ramp up” production of flash memory chips during the month of Auguest. Word on the street is that Toshiba is doing so to fulfill a big order from Apple (AAPL). So, new iPods on the way? Speculate away!

Toshiba will be cranking its factories out to 90 percent of total capacity. The whole “new iPods?!” rumor starts because, really, why else would Toshiba be running at full speed ahead unless one of its clients—Apple buys its flash from Toshiba—needs a whole bunch of flash all at once? And why else would Apple need flash if not for new iPods?

Or, what a minute—maybe it has something to do with that Apple tablet, which, as I understand it, will bring peace on Earth for all eternity?

Original post

Comments

[davswa:]

The tablet frenzy has been building for about a week. Here are a few speculations about what will be included that I haven't seen discussed much.

1) The tablet will use a proprietary CPU developed by the P.A. Semi team which will allow them to run OS X (full version) while at the same time significantly reducing power consumption therefore extending battery life.

2) The tablet will include an emulator that allows iPhone apps to run natively without being updated by the developer. That will give it instant access to everything in the app store. Nobody knows how to write emulators better than Apple (think OS9-10 migration or PowerPC->Intel migration). Apple will also provide dev kit upgrades to allow easy porting to the tablet chipset.

3) The tablet will include support for both GSM and CDMA so that it can run on any cell network in the world. Internet everywhere out of the box will be the killer app for mobile users. Think of an architect wanting to review drawings on site, doctors looking up anatomy, realtors looking up floor plans. Big markets with less price sensitivity than the consumer markets.

4) It will be very thin and very light. Macbook air was the prototype - now we get to the main event.

5) Will support bluetooth keyboard - that is why the bluetooth peripheral support was added to the iPhone in June.

That's what I see in my crystal ball.

Jul 27 04:36 PM

[Cheat Sheet:]

You make it sound like that tablet thing from Star Trek TNG.

Jul 27 05:17 PM

[cheaperCDs:]

"Auguest"?

Why should we listen to someone who doesn't even take time to proofread his articles?

Jul 27 05:52 PM

[KenC:]

Uhm, if you listened to the last conference call, Oppenheimer or Cook mentioned that they had pre-bought $500M of flash from Toshiba.

As for suppliers, Toshiba is just one of about 5 flash ram suppliers to Apple.

Jul 28 09:54 AM