PSP II - rumored to have HDD instead of Flash Memory...

**Shred0r** · 02-19-2006

here the hint on it:

Samsung, Hynix Hit by Falling Flash Chip Price

By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter

Shares of South Korea’s two semiconductor makers Samsung Electronics and Hynix have fluctuated this week amid the plummeting flash memory price, raising concerns about the companies’ weak product portfolio.

The two firms’ stock prices rose by 2.8 percent and 7.2 percent each from Wednesday to Friday after the firms insisted that the soaring demand will negate the price downfall in the second half of the year. They have suffered sharp price drops of 5.4 percent and 17 percent over the previous four days, as the NAND flash memory price has rapidly fallen this year.

NAND flash memory chips are used to store pictures, songs and movie files in consumer electronic gadgets such as MP3 players and digital cameras. Both Samsung and Hynix have been supplying the flash chips for Apple’s iPod music players since last year.

The price of flash memory chips has fallen more than 10 percent this month, according to Taiwan-based researcher dramexchange.com. Prices of widely used 4-gigabite and 2-gigabite memory chips fell by 24.7 percent and 34.4 percent, and the 8-gigabite chip also saw a 13.8 percent decrease in its price.

Also, rumors that Samsung has been struggling to make a contract with Japanese electronics maker Sony hurt the chipmakers’ stock values. Sony reportedly decided not to purchase Samsung’s flash memory chip for their upcoming portable multimedia player, allegedly PlayStation Portable 2, as they opted for less expensive hard-disk drives instead of the flash memories.

Samsung, which has about half of the market, said late December that it could sell NAND flash memory chips to Sony and others. The company on Thursday rebuffed such claims that the talks with Sony have failed.

``What we are negotiating with Sony concerns a different product from what is currently being speculated about in the market. The rumor is not true,’’ Chu Woo-sik, vice president for investors relations at Samsung, was quoted as saying by Maeil Economic Daily.

Shred0r says: i guess, this guy is just doing the "limitation of damage" job to prevent Samsung's stock price from a futher down fall...

Chu also said that rapid NAND flash price falls have been well expected.

``The seasonal decline of the NAND price in the first quarter is slightly greater than the 15 percent decline we had expected initially. But eventually, the falling price will boost the demand within a couple of months. It is expected that the demand in the market will greatly exceed the supply in the second half of the year.’’

NAND chips are increasingly replacing DRAM (dynamic random access memories) as the main profit source of the two Korean chipmakers, Samsung and Hynix. They accounted for more than 70 percent of Hynix’s operating profit in the fourth quarter of last year, according to Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Samsung was the world’s second largest memory chip maker, after Intel, last year. Hynix moved three steps up to ninth place, with its revenue increasing by 23.4 percent from a year ago.

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/biz/...7443011870.htm

Imagine, PSP II with with kind of MicroDrive integrated to let forget the old handheld days of crappy loading times and storage limitations...

**Thorzilla** · 02-20-2006

Hey there:
Nice find in there Shred0r! Wow, a HDD inside a PSP2. I cant even imagine how PSP2 will look! Well, actually i can...i see only the screen

with really HD graphics. But how can a portable machine have more power than a PSP right now???
Is kind of crazy to think about it.
OVER.

See ya!

**Hokage** · 02-20-2006

It will be a long time before the PSP II comes out, if ever.

**fireras** · 02-20-2006

Well I think they are talking about the much needed storage solution for the current psp...Sony could easily release a PSP v.2 that comes with a built in hdd to compete with the Ipod....as a matter of fact I think it is almost guaranteed that we will see something like this b4 holiday 2006....the lack of HDD is really hurting Sony and they know it....they can't compete with the Ipod with a 2gb Memory Stick....not even a 8gb one will help because its gonna be way too expensive to the average Ipod touting consumer to afford bout a PSP and a $250 8GB Memory Stick Duo.

**theman19** · 02-20-2006

can anyone say ipod KILLER! i doubt we will ever see it though

**Zero_** · 02-20-2006

The PSP or PSP II will never be an iPod killer because the iPod is too popular now, and the PSP has multiple functions, where the iPod only has 1 or 2 main ones.

**soldier one** · 02-20-2006

i just dont see how you can even think about a psp 2 when the first isnt even a year old yet. still a hd has its ups and downs.

**OKlondon** · 02-20-2006

Here we go again with the killer bs.

Its still a long time before the psp2 comes out, a very long its not even a year yet in the uk. They need to concentrate on making quality games for the psp instead of thinking about the psp2.

**Jap Attack** · 02-20-2006

Its still a long time before the psp2 comes out, a very long its not even a year yet in the uk. They need to concentrate on making quality games for the psp instead of thinking about the psp2.

Sony started creating things for the PS3 (the Cell processor) as soon as the PS2 was availablle. So this is totally possible. The PS2 didn't even have any great games at launch day besides tekken tag. Same with the PSP.

**ebony & ivory** · 02-20-2006

i think its a bit early to talk about psp2! maybe in 6yeras or so we'll see it!until then enjoy psp1.. i don't have one but i already tried and it is really cool.. i'll probably wait because i read somewhere that sony is developing a new type of screen that improve battery life and provides better graphics.

**Namsp66** · 02-20-2006

Originally Posted by OKlondon

Here we go again with the killer bs.

Its still a long time before the psp2 comes out, a very long its not even a year yet in the uk. They need to concentrate on making quality games for the psp instead of thinking about the psp2.

I'm sorry to say but, if all sony did was worry about games and did nothing at all with the hardware until they needed to put out the next device(they'd be called ninten-do).
All this would do in the long run is make 1 or 2 more games first party. They really don't controll that many games on the psp anyway. Plus hardware divisions and software prolly don't even see each other at all.
Imo the day after they finish the PS3 I want them to start on the PS4.

**Aza** · 02-21-2006

Further towards the middle of PS3's life cycle I'm expecting a PSP 2 to show up.

**Namsp66** · 02-21-2006

Originally Posted by Aza

Further towards the middle of PS3's life cycle I'm expecting a PSP 2 to show up.

I think you have it here. Just one part we may have to agree on here might be life cycle and I do believe 5-8 years is possible, maybe more likely 5-6 years. Lets say psp came out 2 years b4 the end of the ps2(on a 5year cycle), now 6 years could be easy for the ps3 life. That said lets say psp2 comes along about 09'--- or there abouts we have a bit to w8.
I mean lets w8 for the technology, we don't wanna pay 400.dollars for the thing do we.

**Obscene Truth** · 02-21-2006

Did it cross any of your minds that they could be refering to a Hard drive Walkman? yea, thats probably what this is about.

**Nighthawk** · 02-21-2006

This, in essence, is no different to talking about PS4. With the difference that PSP is out, but that's not the point. I'm hoping they don't release a PSP2, instead have upgrades and addons for the existing PSP. No doubt it will happen though.

**The Chocobo Kid** · 02-21-2006

I don't think this is needed just yet. I still need to give my psp a few more years beofore upgrade it.

**Basic Chair** · 02-22-2006

Hey guys, I just stumbled on an article that not only says that Sony will use NAND memory, but they plan to put it in an updated PSP NOT a PSP2. On top of that, they plan to do it all by the end of the year!

Originally Posted by [url=http://www.digitimes.com/bits_chips/a20060220PR205.html

Digitimes[/url]]According to market sources, Sony plans to release a version of its PSP (PlayStation Portable) using NAND flash from Samsung Electronics in the second half of this year.

The PSP will feature 8GB of NAND flash, the sources stated.

Although recent reports stated that Sony would opt not to use NAND flash in the next version of its PSP, and would instead use a microdrive, the sources indicated that Sony was stalling to negotiate better pricing from Samsung.

When rumors circulated on February 16 that negotiations had broken down between Sony and Samsung, spot prices for 1Gbit and 2Gbit NAND flash dropped 5.3% and 3% in one day, according to the Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN).

Deutsche Bank was also cited by the report as commenting that the failure of Samsung and Sony to reach a supply agreement will suppress NAND flash prices further and push oversupply to 10% this year.

According to data from DRAMeXchange, 8Gbit spot prices have fallen from US$39 to US$34 since Chinese New Year, while prices for 4Gbit parts have fallen from US$23.36 to US$16.60

LINK
What do you think?

**Shred0r** · 02-23-2006

And here's the link to this news:

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20060220PR205.html

And here's the explanation of the term "NAND Memory" from Wikipedia:

NAND memories

NAND flash memories cannot provide execute-in-place due to their different construction principles. These memories are accessed much like block devices such as hard disks or memory cards. When executing software from NAND memories, virtual memory strategies are used: memory contents must first be paged into memory-mapped RAM and executed there, making the presence of a memory management unit (MMU) on the system absolutely necessary.

For this reason some systems will use a combination of NOR and NAND memories, where the NOR memory is used as software ROM and the NAND memory is partitioned with a file system and used as a random access storage area.

So NAND mem acts like a HDD for random file access purpose. Now looking at the introducing piece of info of this topic where its rumored that the PSP2 may include a HDD, its more reasonable IMHO that this info is more connected to the original PSP.
So no talk about a PSP2, just a updated version of the PSP. And i like it that way, cause who the hell wants to hear news of a PSP2 right now when he just recently got a PSP for big money?! I want the PSP to last at least for 3 years, until the middle of PS3 life span is reached which will be in Fall 2009 (according to my estimated total life span of 6 years until the PS4 arrives in 2013/2014)

But as we know there is much potential hidden in the PS3's architecture with the Cell & RSX and which wont be utilized in full glory for some long time (3-4 years) until the devs figure out how to use the whole architectue in a optimal way. Therefore my guess is that the PS3 is going to last longer than the PS2 does until its successor arrives cause the Cell seems to be a bit more complicated than the cpu of the PS2 was for the Dev Teams when they first got their hands on the hardware...
I am not talking here about the total life span in general of the PS3 cause this would be more than 10 years (just look at the life span of the PS1, its sold even today in big numbers in the poorer parts of the world...)

Over & Out! *Have to fight with the Boogieman right now!*

**rallyracr420** · 02-23-2006

If the next PSP is going to feature a webbrowser, lets hope Sony has the foresight to include more than 32MB of ram and a touchscreen so browsing is actually usable.

Even the DS is getting a memory upgrade for browsing... Sony dropped the ball on this one. I expect a PSP2 sooner than later to make up for the design flaws of the original.

**Organic_Shadow** · 02-25-2006

Hopefully the Microdrive will be removable via a CFII slot. It would be great to be able to use the Microdrive for things other than PSP and to transfer files over directly from your Digital camera(most digital cameras take CF cards) and then over to your PS3. PSPII with Memory Stick Pro Duo AND CFII support? Awesome....as long as they can fit it all into a similar-sized package to the current PSP then it's all good.

**Poison** · 02-25-2006

why the talk about PSP 2 when we just really got the PSP, and it not even a full year since it released in the States, maybe for japan yes but here no. It just doesn't make sense about having another PSP now.

**Bluejay136** · 02-25-2006

I can imagine seeing graphics a lot closer to what the PS2 can handle, that would be great instead of seeing jaggies all the time you can actually see smooth textures and all you would expect in a PS2 game.

**Nighthawk** · 02-25-2006

Well, the next step is Xbox style graphics I think. But I'll say the same thing I always do. Stop thinking about it. Enjoy your PSP, think about PSP2 later.

[Marvin]Not that anyone ever listens to me.[/Marvin]

**Organic_Shadow** · 02-25-2006

Originally Posted by Poison

why the talk about PSP 2 when we just really got the PSP, and it not even a full year since it released in the States, maybe for japan yes but here no. It just doesn't make sense about having another PSP now.

Seeing as there is a new Nintendo handheld(can you say ipod?) released every other month it goes without saying that we are getting used to gadgets releasing new versions more frequently. Sony may or may not be in the process of working on the next PSP, but either way there isn't really a whole lot of room to complain about a new version already coming out seeing as there are equally as many complaints about the current PSP's problems. There is already a DS Lite coming out and plenty of people are pissed off, and many people are excited. I feel the same way with PSP2 even though I just got my PSP for xmas. I will have no problem selling my current PSP, or even hanging onto it and using it for road trips or for when it's bulkiness doesn't matter. Plus if it get's stolen or damaged, I already have the new PSP2 sitting at home waiting for me.

**Shred0r** · 02-26-2006

Sony wants to lower Cell's manufacturing process up to 45nm. So when the Cell gets much smaller maybe Sony is going to implement it in the PSP2...therefore XBOX graphics guaranteed as the Cell would do all the work (CPU & GPU tasks...)