On Tuesday, Intel's well-known line of flash-based solid state drives (SSDs) got an upgrade when the company introduced versions of the X25-M built on 34nm architecture. Previous models, such as the one that was part of the
CRN Test Center's
Ultimate PC project, used 50nm designs.
The immediate result of this change is a considerable price drop for the current 80-GB and 160-GB drives. With a decrease in price of almost 60 percent, the cost for 1,000-piece quantities is now $225 and $440, respectively. Still expensive compared to standard, platter-based hard drives, the new pricing is important, as it will likely open the market to a whole new group of customers. Furthermore, devices that rely on SSDs for speed and/or power efficiency will directly benefit.
Of special interest is the netbook arena, where SSDs have always been favored but usually avoided because of the high cost. Intel's new pricing will surely trickle down into that community and will likely spark some new life.
Interestingly, Intel is delaying what most enthusiasts would expect from such a technological advancement. The new architecture should, and eventually will, make larger capacity SSDs a reality. This is something many have been waiting for because, although SSDs are great for storage, their minimal capacities usually make them impractical.
The decision to hold off on the larger capacities is admittedly a business decision. While the new 34nm process makes the bigger sizes possible, Intel feels that the cost would be too high for the current economy. Instead, it is choosing to focus on making the current lineup more attractive. Along with the lower price tag, the next generation drives have improved latency and faster write times than the original version. Combined with features in the upcoming Windows 7 that are designed to take advantage of SSDs, the advanced feature set and more attractive pricing give Intel the potential to gain an even larger portion of the growing SSD market.
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