Articles for SanDisk

Sandisk Gains from Solid State Drive Storage Boom

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Friday, January 13th, 2012 by Trefis Team

This year could be a big one for SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) as technology advancements, changing dynamics in the PC industry, new enterprise server and storage architectures, and near-term hard disk drive (HDD) shortages boost the worldwide solid state drive (SSD) storage market higher. According to a report from research firm IDC, the worldwide solid state storage industry revenue reached $5 billion in 2011, a 105% increase from the $2.4 billion in 2010, and is expected to expand further in 2012 and beyond. The report estimates the worldwide SSD shipments to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 51.5% from 2010 to 2015. SanDisk primarily competes with Samsung and Toshiba in the SSD market.

While SanDisk currently derives majority of its revenue from the sale of flash memory cards and USB drives, SSDs are fast becoming a major product segment. We estimate that SanDisk will be deriving more of its value from SSDs compared to flash memory cards and USB drives in the future. Below we take a look at the major factors driving growth in SSDs.

We have a $50.60 Trefis price estimate for SanDisk and will soon be releasing our new model for SanDisk with a separate break up for SSDs.

If Apple Acquires Anibot, Sandisk Better Watch Out

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Friday, December 16th, 2011 by Trefis Team

The rumors of a potential acquisition of Israeli component supplier Anobit, an Isreali flash storage solutions provider for the Enterprise and Mobile markets, by none other than Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is leading to speculation about the possible disruptive effects it could have on the NAND flash industry. Below we take a look at how this move could impact the NAND flash industry as well as the current leader in the flash memory controller chip market, SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK).

We currently have a $50.60 Trefis price estimate for SanDisk which is in line with market estimates.

See our full analysis of SanDisk

About Anobit

Anobit produces flash memory controller chip which manages the data stored on flash memory and communicates with computers or other electronic devices. Anobit’s MSP™ (Memory Signal Processing) technology is comprised of proprietary signal processing algorithms combined with advanced error correction and innovative flash management schemes that help improve flash memory’s endurance, performance and cost.

Why Apple’s Purchase of Anobit Could Be Disruptive to the NAND Industry?

According to Sanford Bernstein’s Mark Newman, flash memory controller chips “are becoming more critical to the performance of NAND flash” as they control error correction and signal processing.

The rumors of Apple’s interest in Anobit give weight to Newman’s claim. If Apple indeed acquires Anobit, it is likely that the computer maker will be making its own advanced NAND controller for its line-up of consumer hardware – the iPhones, the iPads and the Macbook Airs – in the future.

It is also possible that Apple will be providing its advanced NAND controllers to other consumer electronics vendors and storage system providers which would essentially commoditize flash memory suppliers.

SanDisk Will Be Worst Hit

The potential acquisition of Anibot by Apple could be bad news for SanDisk, the current leader in NAND controllers as well as other industry players like Micron Technologies (NASDAQ:MU), Samsung , and Toshiba, as Apple’s future dominance in the market could reduce them to mere suppliers of raw NAND.

SanDisk is primarily a flash memory storage solution provider to consumers as well as OEMs and not majorly into supplying raw NAND flash memory unlike Samsung and Toshiba. Apple’s entry into the flash memory controller chips would mean SanDisk will be the one to take the worst hit.

We are updating our SanDisk model to better account for new markets like enterprise and tablet SSDs.

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SanDisk Gains on Flash Demand Despite Sluggish Semicon Equipment Orders

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Monday, October 31st, 2011 by Trefis Team

Flush from better than expected third quarter revenues, flash memory supplier SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) is buying back up to $500 million of its stock over the next five years, joining a growing list of companies putting their cash to use to help build investor confidence. SanDisk primary competitors include Hynix (PINK:HXSCF), Micron (NASDAQ:MU), Samsung (LI:SAMS), STMicroelectronics (ADR:STM), Toshiba (PINK:TOSBF) and IM Flash (a joint venture of Micron and Intel).

See our full analysis for SanDisk

SanDisk Q2 Earnings Preview: What We’re Watching on Thursday

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Wednesday, July 20th, 2011 by Trefis Team

SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) plans to announce its Q2 2011 earnings results tomorrow. For the quarter, we are keeping a close eye on growth in the solid state drives (SSDs) market, which is being supported by the rising popularity of tablets and the increased adoption of SSDs in PCs as well as enterprises storage solutions. In the past, mobile phone flash cards have been the largest value driver for SanDisk making up more than 50% of our $50.60 Trefis price estimate for SanDisk stock. SanDisk primary competitors include firms like Hynix (PINK:HXSCF), Micron (NASDAQ:MU), Samsung (LI:SAMS), STMicroelectronics (ADR:STM), Toshiba (PINK:TOSBF) and IM Flash (a joint venture of Micron and Intel).

Portability & Cloud Services Lift SanDisk’s Outlook

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Friday, June 24th, 2011 by Trefis Team

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) recently announced the launch of its iCloud storage service at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2011. As a master at getting buzz behind new product launches, Apple put its weight behind one of the hottest themes in the computer industry with cloud computing. If Apple gains traction with the iCloud, we will likely see similar offerings from other players in the smartphones and PC market like Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), HP (NYSE:HPQ), Nokia (NYSE:NOK), Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) and Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI) among others. Below we look at how this move could impact NAND based flash storage and SanDisk in particular.

SanDisk Targets Enterprise Flash Storage with Pliant Acquisition

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Wednesday, May 18th, 2011 by Trefis Team

SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) on May 16 announced that it will acquire enterprise solid-state drive (SSD) maker Pliant Technology for $327 million in cash and equity based incentives. The company best known for its consumer products like NAND based flash memory cards used in digital cameras and phones as well as USB storage devices, has also offered several SSD products in the past. The company competes with the likes of Hynix (PINK:HXSCF), Micron (NASDAQ:MU), Samsung (LI:SAMS), STMicroelectronics (ADR:STM), Toshiba (PINK:TOSBF) and IM Flash (a joint venture of Micron and Intel).

The Pliant acquisition will mark the firm’s first move into the branded enterprise solid-state storage sector. The acquisition continues the trend of storage company mergers that have changed the landscape of the industry in the last 3 months. We expect Pliant to become SanDisk’s enterprise NAND flash division.

10 Tech Stocks with Highest Cash Contributions vs. Stock Value

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Monday, April 4th, 2011 by Trefis Team

Cash is king – or it is at least for these tech giants. Every few months we take a look at how cash contributes to tech firms’ stock values in order to assess how capable these firms are of making sizable commitments to acquisitions, R&D or paying dividends. We note that Texas Instruments’ (NYSE:TXN) $6.5 billion for National Semiconductor (NYSE:NSM) at a whopping 78% premium to its stock price prior to the announcement could help spark some consolidation in the tech sector amid an already healthy M&A environment. This time around Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI) tops our list while many of the usual suspects like Nokia (NYSE:NOK) and Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) also make the list for their cash holdings.

Sandisk Calls for 200M Tablets by 2014

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Thursday, March 24th, 2011 by Trefis Team

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) is a global leader in the flash memory card market and competes with Hynix (PINK:HXSCF), Micron (NASDAQ:MU), Samsung (LI:SAMS), STMicroelectronics (ADR:STM), Toshiba (PINK:TOSBF) and IM Flash (a joint venture of Micron and Intel). We earlier discussed the rising popularity of tablet devices and its potential impact on our $50.60 Trefis price estimate for SanDisk’s stock, which is about 17% above the market price. (See SanDisk’s Opportunity in the Tablet Market)

SanDisk Highlights Growth of Mobile and Video at Analyst Day

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Tuesday, March 15th, 2011 by Trefis Team

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) is a global leader in the flash memory card market and competes with Hynix (PINK:HXSCF), Micron (NASDAQ:MU), Samsung (LI:SAMS), STMicroelectronics (ADR:STM), Toshiba (PINK:TOSBF) and IM Flash (a joint venture of Micron and Intel). In recent years the increase in use of smartphones has led to tremendous demand for NAND storage. With the smartphones market estimated to grow to 900 million units by 2014 and data transfer rates increasing with 3G and 4G networks, the mobile video is likely to become a key driver for SanDisk’s growth.

Mobile Phone Flash Cards Worth 53% of SanDisk’s Stock

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Monday, March 14th, 2011 by Trefis Team

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) is a global leader in the flash memory card market and competes with Hynix (PINK:HXSCF), Micron (NASDAQ:MU), Samsung (LI:SAMS), STMicroelectronics (ADR:STM), Toshiba (PINK:TOSBF) and IM Flash (a joint venture of Micron and Intel). In recent years the increasing popularity of smartphones and surging mobile phones sales have made mobile phones flash cards the most important segment for SanDisk. We estimate that the mobile phones flash cards division makes up nearly 53% of our $50.60 Trefis price estimate for SanDisk’s stock. Our estimate is about 13% above the market price.