
Hard
drives are finding their way into applications that were once solidly in the
hands of flash cards. MP3 players, digital cameras, and even cell phones
now can be purchased with a microdrive inside. Is the hard drive going to
displace the flash card? Is this a temporary phenomenon or will things
ease back? This paper will look at the storage needs of various systems
of the present and future. Through an analysis of current and future
trends Semico Research will share its vision of the next 5-10 years, naming
which consumer applications are likely to move from flash to HDD, which from
HDD to flash, and which will move back and forth over time.