Stock of NAND flash memory controllers may be resurgent after an apparent softening of demand from Apple, says system-on-a-chip maker Silicon Motion's chief Stephen Kou. Despite what first appeared to be a major shortage of the memory itself, instigated by a power cut at a number of Samsung's factories and a general lack of capacity at other firms, the supply of controllers and memory chips appears to be in check after Apple softened its demand versus prior months. The real issue now would be to balance the market and prevent an oversupply, Kou notes.

The situation suggests both that Apple has continued to exert a strong influence and that the company may have already finished stockpiling all the memory it believes it will need for the holiday season. The shortage during the summer was triggered in part by Apple stepping up its production in advance, according to the Silicon Motion executive. Previous reports had pinned the undersupply on the iPhone as well as the introduction of a mysterious 16GB iPod later confirmed as the iPod touch.

Whether the situation would remain as favorable was unclear from Kou's observations, as Apple reportedly doubled production of the iPhone after a price cut to $399, anticipating added demand.