According to IHS iSuppli the global NAND flash memory market will grow by 8% Y-o-Y in 2012 due to a number of sales drivers-- chief of which being SSD-equiped ultrabooks.
The analyst projects 2012 WW NAND flash revenues to reach $22.9 billion (up from $21.2bn in 2012) before reaching approximately $30.9bn by 2016.
Pushing NAND consumptions throughout the period are the growing smartphone, tablet and ultrabook markets.
This contrast with 2011, a year iSuppli says was "somewhat below [NAND] industry expectations" due to non-iPad tablets failing to achieve iPad levels of success.
Ultrabooks are now the NAND industry's shining new hope-- with long battery lives, light form factors and fast boot-up times ultrabooks should appeal to both consumer and enterprise segments, pushing NAND consumption in the PC segment to over 15% of total NAND flash supply.
iSuppli also predicts SSDs will account for around 3.3 billion gigabytes of NAND flash consumption in 2012, up from 3.1bn GB in 2011.
Smartphones are another growth segment, with 2012 shipments set to hit 626m units with an average of 9GB of NAND flash per unit. On the other hand iSuppli says "tablets have generally underperformed," at least in comparison to the iPad.
Apple will consume 25% of total 2012 NAND supply (approx. 8bn GB) through products like the iPad, iPhone, Macbook Air and iPod Touch.
Go Aided by Ultrabook Sales, Global NAND Flash Revenue Expected to Grow (iSuppli)
