February 23, 2004

SD Memory Card - Ringing Up New Wireless Applications

SD Memory Card -- the emerging de facto flash memory standard -- continues to demonstrate its growing impact on the wireless communications industry. At the 3GSM World Congress in Cannes this week, the SD Card Association (SDA) offered details of recently-finalised specifications for mobile e-commerce and "SD Maps" that the Association believes will greatly expand the capabilities of SD Memory Cards in mobile devices. The Association also noted the formation of its new Mobile Phone Task Force, a key component in SDA's ongoing efforts to expand the capabilities of SD Memory Cards in mobile devices

According to Gartner Dataquest research, "the SD card is expected to be the dominant standard in 2004 capturing 34 percent of Worldwide Flash Card Revenue." The SD Memory Card has become the dominant flash memory card through its total of 2,027 SD-enabled products, representing 171 brands in 31 categories that are marketed around the world.

The SD Memory Card, including miniSD(TM), has already gained a great deal of acceptance in the mobile phone market with ten SD enabled mobile phones being produced for the European market by six prominent companies. A similar number of SD-enabled cellular phones, from seven manufacturers, are marketed in the United States, and in Japan, 20 SD-enabled mobile phones are presently available, with eight models being marketed in other areas of Asia. Furthermore, roughly 39 percent of all mobile phones sold in Japan in January 2004 were equipped with SD Memory Card slots, representing the vast majority (nearly 80 percent) of memory card-enabled mobile phones sold there.

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