Samsung at 85 Percent

Samsung's plant power outage will only give it enough NAND flash memory to provide 85 percent of the chips its primary customers will need for the second half of August, according to the head of memory device maker PQI. General manager Jance Lu noted that while her company is already secure, a shortfall is likely to occur for other companies and that the total amount of flash available would dip by about 3 percent. The sudden fluctuation in prices for the memory could force Samsung to change its prices in September to make up the difference, Lu said.

While the PQI manager did not name the customers in question, one of the largest of these is expected to be Apple. The American company is expected to consume one quarter of all NAND flash towards the end of the year and is widely believed to be readying a 16GB flash-based iPod for next month that could increase its overall demand for the storage format as the company ramps up production.

Apple itself warned of lower than expected profits towards the end of the year before the Samsung power cut affected supplies, with chief financial officer Fred Oppenheimer warning that the price of NAND memory used in both iPhones and iPods would cut into the company's margins for its next quarter.

By Electronista Staff