SanDisk eyes ultra low-cost PCs for flash drives

TAIPEI (Reuters) - SanDisk Corp (SNDK.O), the world's No.1 supplier of flash memory-based data storage cards, said it would target ultra low-cost personal computers and business-use laptop PCs to drive demand for its solid-state drives.

Solid-state drives, semiconductor-based memory devices that use NAND flash memory chips, are seen as a promising alternative to hard disk drives used in laptop PCs as they are more shock-resistant and consume less power.

A move toward solid-state drives poses a threat to hard drive makers such as Seagate Technology STX.N.

The high cost of solid-state drives compared to hard disk drives with the same memory capacity has until now hindered PC makers' shift to the flash-based drives.

But the rising popularity of smaller, cheaper PCs -- designed primarily for accessing the Internet, and which do not require a large memory -- is set to boost the market for flash memory-based drives, SanDisk said.

"There are more and more companies that have joined in to make such laptops for a second computer for many people," Doreet Oren, director of SanDisk's product marketing, told Reuters at Computex on Tuesday.

Computex, which is being held in Taipei this week, is the world's second-biggest computer show.

"We expect this market is going to take off and be the primary market this year and the next," Oren said.

She declined to give solid-state drive sales targets.

SanDisk plans to launch solid-state drives with 4-, 8-, and 16-gigabyte capacities for ultra-low cost PCs this year. Prices were not available.

Oren said another promising growth area for solid-state drives is business-use laptop PCs.

"They don't want high capacity for their employees. They don't want them loading games, movies and their own personal music," Oren said.

"That's why, for them, lower capacity is actually attractive."

However, it will take more time for prices of solid state drive-equipped laptop PCs with bigger memory capacity levels to come down to affordable levels for many consumers.

Toshiba Corp (6502.T) plans to launch a notebook computer equipped with a 128-gigabyte solid-state drive this month. The electronics maker expects the laptop PC to sell for about 400,000 yen ($3,830), compared with an estimated 300,000 yen for a comparable hard disk drive model.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Louise Heavens)