Two years ago, money from the flash memory business was flowing in a torrent, but last year the profits dried up to a trickle. In the fourth quarter, Intel earned less from NAND flash sales than in the third quarter, and the situation could worsen even more (if things don't work out). ). In such conditions, Intel begins to doubt the benefits of independently releasing 3D NAND and SSD.
As the Internet resource suggests , at a recent Morgan Stanley analyst conference, the company's CFO George Davis admitted that Intel was unable to sell enough SSD drives to make a profit to cover the production costs of producing 3D NAND memory chips. At the same time, let us recall that Intel produces 3D NAND in China (in the city of Dalian), where production costs are lower than those of the same company Micron in the USA.
A response to decreased profitability may be changes in the business model in the field of 3D NAND and products based on it. Intel may shut down the plant in Dalian or repurpose it (for example, the company does not have enough capacity to produce processors). The company can purchase 3D NAND memory externally - from Micron or someone else. It can even purchase ready-made SSDs and stop producing these products itself. Finally, Intel can sell 3D NAND chips to third parties. It could very well be hers , which she acquired over the years of work in this country.
It may happen that the change in business model will be postponed. The outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and the subsequent epidemic, and even the pandemic that WHO declared yesterday, fueled the demand for SSDs and NAND. Where possible, company employees are switching to remote work, as is the growing demand for Internet services for people stuck in quarantine and students sent on forced holidays. All this will spur demand for server equipment and storage devices.
At the same time, the issue of production of NAND and SSD for Intel will be postponed, but not resolved. For Intel, profitability is critical, and it will not feed on crumbs from the table of the NAND flash market. It's not hers. But the release of the latest 3D XPoint memory and Optane drives on this memory remains. This is a new and unoccupied market. Betting on 3D XPoint could be a decisive argument for the company to get rid of 3D NAND production.
Source: 3dnews.ru