Sources suggest that “as Toshiba, Hynix Semiconductor, Intel and Micron Technology have allocated less chip supplies to the Asia market since early April, downstream memory suppliers are striving to grab more NAND flash chips to meet substantial volumes of short lead-time orders from device makers, the sources indicated.” Supply is expected to remain tight until at least the end of May, the sources said. “Spot prices for mainstream MLC NAND flash trended upward during the week of March 27-April 2, as a result of tightening supplies, data gathered by inSpectrum show.”

According to DRAMeXchange, contract prices for MLC NAND flash chips have increased by up to 16% for the first half of April, as a result of shipment adjustments by chip suppliers. Major NAND flash chipmakers tend to allocate more shipments to device makers, and do not plan to increase their production for the second quarter in order to maintain price stability. The chips are then recombined during manufacturing into the larger 16GB, 32GB, and so on capacities found in handheld consumer electronics.

[via EngadgetMobile]

Amir discusses the development of the model however says that it may firstly be released in emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, while the high-end version is expected to make its way to North America and Europe. Although having double the capacity, the model is expected to run on a 3G network, rather than on WiFi. The number of units looking to move Amir believes is 3.8 million to four million in the first quarter, while Wall Street is anticipating three million to 3.5 million units.

Noted in the report Amir says that “about 20 percent of all NAND capacity goes to Apple, and its impact on the NAND market should not be underestimated…NAND prices should move up further off the Apple orders. We believe that with the new iPhone design which could include 32GB NAND, Apple is setting the stage for another potentially big flash order starting in April. With the potential for 3 million units to be shipped in 2Q, we believe the magnitude of such an order could enable prices of NAND components to move up an additional 20 percent in the (first half) of 2Q.”

[via Silicon]