In a conference call regarding the results of its first quarter in fiscal 2013, Micron Technology said that there is a growing demand for solid-state drives (SSDs) despite declining numbers in the PC sector. The company said it has seen a 20-percent rise in SSD orders during 1QF13 alone.
"We continue to be pleased with our solid-state drive business, as these shipments were up about 20-percent quarter-on-quarter," said Mark Adams, the president of Micron. "In Q1, SSDs represented 17-percent of our trade NAND business. If you include NAND component sales to SSD providers, about 35-percent of our trade NAND bits go into solid state drives."
Adams said the company is on track to introduce new "breeds" of SSDs – including solutions for the enterprise sector – in the coming months. The enterprise-based P400E SSD is expected to ship in the first calendar quarter of 2013, and Micron is close to qualifying a next-generation Serial ATA enterprise-class drive with a major server and storage OEM.
"Our development of Enterprise-class SSDs is progressing well," Adams said. "Our SLC-based PCIe P320 H enterprise high-performance storage drive continues to receive positive reviews from both the press and our top customers."
Micron is reportedly one of many manufacturers who are seeing an increased demand for SSDs despite their price. One reason for the increase is possibly be due to the release of Windows 8 which may have pushed consumers into upgrading from the traditional HDD for better performance. Form factors like Ultrabooks and the Windows 8 spinoff hybrids are also pushing manufacturers to stick with SSDs due to their size and speed. The falling prices of SSDs are also likely increasing sales.
Micron said on Wednesday that revenues from sales of NAND Flash products were 4-percent lower in the first quarter of fiscal 2013 compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012. This was due to a 9-percent decrease in sales volume, partially offset by a 5-percent increase in average selling prices. Trade NAND Flash sales volume in the first quarter of fiscal 2013 decreased compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 primarily as a result of lower production of NAND Flash products, the company said.
"Revenues from sales of DRAM products in the first quarter of fiscal 2013 were 9-percent lower compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 primarily due to an 11-percent decrease in average selling prices," Micron stated. "Sales of NOR Flash products were relatively unchanged for the first quarter of fiscal 2013 compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012."
Micron said it saw a net loss of $275 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2013 which ended on November 29, 2012. The company saw a net loss of $245 million in the prior quarter, and a net loss of $187 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 (November 2011).
