Apple Spurs Memory Shortage Concerns

Apple's demand for NAND flash memory has many companies working to find additional suppliers over concerns that components won't be available when needed. Apparently major NAND chip makers have been catering to Apple's chip needs, potentially leaving memory module makers in the cold, according to the electronic component research firm DRAMeXchange.

Hynix Semiconductor, Micron, Toshiba and Samsung Electronics have all been supplying Apple's high demand for NAND flash memory used in products like the iPhone, iPod touch and iPod nano. Samsung may also be rolling out its own memory cards, which will dig into component supplies even more through November.

The potential for constrained chip supplies is hitting at a bad time for manufacturers since the holiday buying season is fast approaching. If Apple's competitors can't get the chips they need in time, they may not be able to get enough product on store shelves for holiday buyers.

Apple's demand for memory chips, coupled with the popularity of its products, could turn into a problem for competitors if they have to slow down production because of limited memory supplies -- and that's a problem its competitors are hoping to avoid.

[Thanks to DigiTimes for the heads up.]