Micron promises TLC NAND flash this year, cheaper SSDs for 2015

Micron Technology has teased that it would offer up triple-level cell NAND flash made using the 16nm process, which could see consumers enjoying cheaper flash-based goods, including cheaper SSDs going into 2015.

Mark Adams, President of Micron, said during a conference call with investors and financial analysts: "Our 16nm NAND yields have been very positive and position us well from a cost perspective. We are currently planning to ship 16nm TLC [NAND flash] in calendar Q4 in order to better position our portfolio from a cost perspective in the retail and consumer segments".

The reason why this is important, is that with current NAND flash storage devices, such as SSDs and more, is that they based on MLC (multi-level cell) tech. Where TLC NAND on the other hand, has been used for memory cards, audio players, USB drives and more. MLC is much more durable than TLC, with typical MLC NAND cells lasting for 3000-10,000 erase/write cycles, where TLC-based NAND usually lasts for under 1000 of those same erase/write cycles. In order for TLC NAND to take off, durability and reliability need to be much higher than what we have now - something Micron is working on, hard.