SNDK Sandisk Corp.

Micron Technology (MU) has unveiled its new solid state drive (SSD), M550, to meet the growing demand for personal storage and also cater to the media and entertainment market.

The M550 SSD enables quick access to files and is more power efficient resulting in longer battery life. Moreover, the new SSD is equipped with hardware encryption facility coupled with data protection and recovery features. M550 will be made available via Micron brand to the original equipment manufacturers and under the Crucial brand to customers and system builders.

The M550 has been chosen by AJA, a digital video interface manufacturer, and Marvell Technology (MRVL) for storage and delivery of digital data and video content.

Micron is benefiting from the growing demand for SSD products and has made significant investments to launch innovative SSD products to meet the pent up demand.

As per technology research firm Gartner, the total SSD market is poised for strong growth, with revenues projected to more than double to reach $19.4 billion in 2014 from $9.2 billion in 2012.

With these launches, we expect Micron to strengthen its market position against the likes of SanDisk (SNDK) and Fusion-io.

Moreover, Micron has been constantly innovating in memory technologies, spanning DRAM, NAND and NOR Flash memory solutions, which are being widely used in the latest mobile computing devices as well as in consumer, networking and embedded products.

According to management, DRAM supply growth is expected to decrease from 23.0% in 2013 to 22.0% in 2017. NAND supply is expected to decline from 43.0% in 2013 to 28.0% in 2017. On the other hand, demand for both DRAM and NAND is expected to increase significantly at CAGRs of 27.0% and 38.0%, respectively, through 2017. This supply/demand scenario is also a positive and should support prices.

Additionally, we believe that the acquisitions of Rexchip and Elpida will help Micron’s share in the memory market. The acquisition also brought Apple Inc. (AAPL) onto the customer roster, which is a positive for future growth.

Currently, Micron sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

 
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