With Intel Corp pushing the technology hard and working with Conner Peripherals Inc on integrating the circuits into subsystems, as well as collaborating with Sharp Corp on fabrication, and AT&T Co, allied in the chip business with NEC Corp, looking to the parts to give its semiconductor operations a strong volume product, Flash memories are poised to become big business. According to reports in the Japanese newspapers over the weekend, IBM Corp is in talks with Toshiba Corp, which invented the devices, on some kind of joint venture on the technology, although neither side is saying much ahead of a formal announcement. Flash memories, which are non-volatile and are faster than disk drives, are seen as the natural secondary storage devices for portable computers and terminals, but at present are about four times the price of disk drives for a given capacity, although as densities rise and costs decline with higher production the disadvantage is likely to diminish.
