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Toshiba Corp. is unable to meet demand for its NANDflash memorydevices and is sold out until December, according to Shozo Saito, president and CEO of the company's semiconductor unit.

Saito confirmed reports that Toshiba can only meet 70 percent of its order demandfrom customers. The company, which is turning the remaining business away, also sees a disappointing flat-to-down scenario in terms of average selling prices (ASPs) for NAND.

On the bright side, "demand is very strong," Saito told EE Times in an interview at Toshiba's headquarters here this week.

"We plan a huge ramp" to meet soaring demand, he said. He is a corporate VP for Toshiba and the president and CEO of Toshiba's semiconductor company.

Much of the NAND demand is coming from the embedded market, which includes MP3 players, USB drives and other products, he said. The flash card represents a smaller portion of the demand. ''Toshiba is focusing on the embedded market," he said.

Overall, NAND is booming again after a downturn. From late last year until earlier this year, NAND prices fell like a rock and demand was poor.

What a difference a few quarters make. Worldwide NAND bit growth is expected to reach 162 percent in 2007, compared to 200 percent last year, he said. He predicted that the overall IC market could grow by 5 percent in 2007 and 10-to-12 percent in 2008.

Meanwhile, the NAND market is slowing to a minor degree. NAND bit growth is expected to jump 120 percent in 2008 and 115 percent in 2009, he said.

JV with SanDisk
As reported, Toshiba, the world's second-largest NAND supplier, is moving into production at a new 300mm fab in Japan. Toshiba and its NAND partner, SanDisk Corp., recently opened Fab 4, a 300mm fab venture at Toshiba's Yokkaichi operations, near Nagoya, Japan.

This fab venture, called Flash Alliance Ltd, broke ground last summer. Current estimates say the fab could produce 67,500 wafers a month by Q4 2008.

The first NAND parts from the fab are based on Toshiba's existing 56nm process. It will also produce parts based on its 43nm technology.

The Toshiba executive confirmed that the company is in the planning stages for the next fab¡ªor so-called Fab 5. It has not been decided where the company will build the fab, he said.

There are continued rumors about a new 300mm fab venture between Hynix and SanDisk. Some said it is already a done deal. SanDisk has dismissed the speculation, but it raises questions about its relationship with Toshiba.