In addition to being one of the top-two optical disc makers in Taiwan, Ritek has extended its presence to the memory business through its RiDATA-branded memory cards and the company is now preparing for volume shipments of its first NAND flash-based solid-state drive (SSD) in the second quarter of 2007, according to company IA planning division manager Richard Lin.
The upcoming RiDATA-brand SSD will come in two memory densities – 16GB and 32GB. Lin said a 64GB version is coming online this year but the exact available date is not yet decided. Already sourcing NAND flash chips from Samsung Electronics, Lin said Samsung will remain the company's major chip supplier in 2007, though he did not reveal details about the chip supplier of this SSD.
This SSD will come in two sizes, 1.8- and 2.5-inch, and both ATA and IDE interfaces are supported. With leading memory application makers such as SanDisk targeting NAND-based SSD to notebook OEM/ODMs, Lin said Ritek is offering its SSD to both ODM vendors and channel customers. Ritek will focus on the same sales channel it uses in the optical disc/drive business.
However, Lin pointed out that Ritek has already taken advantage of its position as a Taiwan-based company and tapped the local notebook ODM market. Lin indicated that Ritek is already shipping the SSD to local notebook ODMs . Although he declined to name specific customers, he said leading notebook ODMs are listed as their customers. He anticipates notebooks featuring RiDATA-branded SSDs will be unveiled in the third quarter of 2007. A minimum of 32GB memory density should be embedded in these upcoming notebooks, he added.
Lin added that Ritek's SSDs supports Microsoft Vista's ReadyBoost features.
Ritek: SSD key features overview
- Interface(s): ATA/IDE
- Memory density: 16GB and 32GB at initial launch
- Power: 0.3w in active mode, 0.005w in idle mode
- Temperature: 0-70c for commercial operation, -40-positive 85c for industrial operation
- Dimension: 1.8-inch: 77.4mm(L)×54mm(W)×8mm
2.5-inch: 99.67mm(L)×68.71mm(W)x9mm
- Launch time: 2Q07
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