Samsung unveils laptop using flash-chip drive

By the middle of this year, laptops that use external flash memory chips instead of a hard disk drive to store data will be put on the market for the first time. At its annual Mobile Solution Forum in Taipei yesterday, Samsung Electronics Co. unveiled a laptop installed with a self-developed flash-based solid-state drive, or SSD. It is the first time that NAND flash chips, typically used in small devices such as digital cameras and MP3 players, have been fitted to a mobile computer. The new laptop uses a 32-gigabyte solid state disk, which combines 64 four-gigabyte flash memory chips. The SSD, a high-performance plug-and-play storage device, weighs one-quarter of 30-gigabyte hard disk drive but its reading speed is three times faster, meaning it takes less time to boot up the computer. The new disk consumes 5 percent of the electricity needed to power a hard disk drive and is free of any motor or other mechanical parts, making it almost completely silent. Hwang Chang-gyu, president of Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor business, said at the forum that by 2008, laptops equipped with SSD will account for 30 percent of the entire laptop market. According to Samsung, the 32-gigabyte SSD, now priced at around $500, will cost no more than $200 by 2008. He also projected that the majority of digital gadgets currently fitted with hard disk drives will have NAND flash chips as a storage medium in a few years. Mr. Hwang noted that multiple information technology functions have been converging into single mobile devices like cell phones. At the same time, a “divergence trend” is emerging in which key features in standalone gadgets such as MP3 players and digital cameras are rapidly improving. He also pointed out that despite predictions of their demise, digital cameras have survived the arrival of phone cameras, and are now stronger than ever. by Seo Ji-eun