List of SSD brands, OEMS, NAND / Controller manufacturers

vbimport
#1

I would like to compile a list of SSD brands, actual manufacturers, NAND vendors and controller manufacturers, please add to the list if you know more.

I’d like to enrich the information as much as possible, with e.g. models, NAND types, controller models etc. If anyone can give their input, please post to the thread!

SSD Brands

[ul]
[li]Acts
[/li][li]ADATA
[/li][li]AKASA
[/li][li]Andico
[/li][li]Aram Electronics
[/li][li]Aris Tech
[/li][li]Asan Semicon
[/li][li]Biwind
[/li][li]Buffalo
[/li][li]Clickfree
[/li][li]Corsair
[/li][li]Crucial
[/li][li]EkMemory
[/li][li]Entity
[/li][li]G.Skill
[/li][li]In Win
[/li][li]InnoDisk
[/li][li]KingFast
[/li][li]KingMax
[/li][li]Kingston
[/li][li]Lite-on
[/li][li]Intel
[/li][li]Kingston
[/li][li]MiSD
[/li][li]MK2
[/li][li]MTRON
[/li][li]NOFAN
[/li][li]Mach Extreme
[/li][li]MSI
[/li][li]Mushkin
[/li][li]Myung Information
[/li][li]OCZ
[/li][li]Plextor
[/li][li]Postel
[/li][li]PQI
[/li][li]Ripple
[/li][li]RSnet
[/li][li]Samsung
[/li][li]Sandisk
[/li][li]Saevit Micro
[/li][li]Silicon Power
[/li][li]Seagate
[/li][li]Superspeed
[/li][li]Supertalent
[/li][li]Silverstone
[/li][li]SK Hynix
[/li][li]Team Group
[/li][li]TDK
[/li][li]Toshiba
[/li][li]Transend
[/li][li]Runcore
[/li][li]Windom
[/li][li]Zalman
[/li][/ul]

SSD controllers

[ul]
[li]Densbits
[/li][li]Indilinx
[/li][li]Intel
[/li][li]JMicron
[/li][li]LAMD
[/li][li]Marvell
[/li][li]Micron
[/li][li]Samsung
[/li][li]SandForce
[/li][li]Toshiba
[/li][/ul]

NAND manufacturers

[ul]
[li]Intel
[/li][li]Micron
[/li][li]Powerchip Technology Corporation
[/li][li]Samsung
[/li][li]SK Hynix
[/li][li]Toshiba
[/li][/ul]

#2

You forgot the largest NAND manufacturer - Samsung Electronics.

http://www.dramexchange.com/WeeklyResearch/Post/2/3121.html

SK Hynix is the official name for Hynix.

There’s also a Taiwan-based NAND manufacturer called Powerchip.

Powerchip Technology Corporation is the official name.

[Zalman](http://shopping.naver.com/search/all_search.nhn?checkout=1&query= SSD0128P1) makes SSD drives.

PQI also has SSD product lines.


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#3

Here’s a list of the manufacturers of SSD products available to retail consumers in South Korea.

Acts
ADATA
AKASA
Axxen
BUFFALO
ClickFree
CORSAIR
Crucial
EKMEMORY
ENTINY
G.SKILL
IN WIN
innoDisk
KingFast
KINGMAX
Kingston
Lite-On
MiSD
MK2
MTRON
NOFAN
OCZ
OWC
PATRIOT
Plextor
POSTEL
RSnet
RunCore
Sandisk
SilverStone
SK Hynix
SuperSpeed
Supertalent
TeamGroup
Transcend
WINDOM

and…

Ripple http://www.ripple.co.kr/mini/index.asp
Mach Extreme
Myung Information http://www.myung.co.kr/
Samsung Electronics
Saevit Micro
Silicon Power
Aram Electronics
Asan Semicon
ARISTech (mySSD)
Andico
Adventech
AT Electronics http://www.autoe.co.kr/
Emation
Intel
Zalman
K-One Information
Tworex
Pixel Lab Korea
Hana Micron
Hansung Computer

#4

Wow, that is amazing Kenshin, more then I could hope for :wink: Do you also happen to know what sizes (nm) and types of NAND (toggle, SLC, MLC) each manufacturer currently makes?

I’ll be updating the thread :slight_smile:

#5

[QUOTE=DoMiN8ToR;2646854]Wow, that is amazing Kenshin, more then I could hope for :wink: Do you also happen to know what sizes (nm) and types of NAND (toggle, SLC, MLC) each manufacturer currently makes?

I’ll be updating the thread :)[/QUOTE]

It took some time for me just to check the names of the manufacturers in English since some were written only in Korean. That Danawa website is for price comparison of computer hardware parts distributed around Seoul’s Yongsan electronics markets only, not dedicated to any specific hardware components, or seriously concerned with performances. It would be more helpful to browse through more SSD-oriented or storage-specific websites. Most engineers and marketers don’t seem to know or be honest about the origin and specifications of the parts - NAND chips and controllers.

Since I posted only some of the names of SSD manufacturers selling consumer drives in South Korea, there must be such lists available in each country. SSD is so easy to make for small companies even when they don’t own large manufacturing bases - I suspect most of the world’s thousands of SSD makers are actually just ordering Toshiba-made and Samsung-made SSD drives under OEM contracts and market them to retail with their own logos. Some are far more important than others.

As for NAND manufacturing processes and types, I think most SSD manufacturers actually use NAND chips of the latest types and processes. It’s difficult to see an SSD manufacturer advertising “we are making SSD’s based on 50nm NAND chips” in 2012 summer since everyone else must be focusing on 22/24nm chips. And here’s a Toshiba Press Release on 19nm NAND. Samsung and Toshiba account for two thirds of the total worldwide NAND shipment. So how many of their NAND chips being shipped are based on 19nm, 22nm, 25nm, or other manufacturing processes? Samsung’s 830 series are more advanced than 470 series before which Samsung shipped only to OEM as well.

This news (in Korean) is not really about desktop and laptop SSD’s, but will seriously impact the overall industry. Samsung’s new 64GB eMMC Pro (e meaning embedded) can write at up to 50MB/s with 1,500 IOPS random writing. That may not look impressive after seeing Vertex 4 reviews, but very few had faster 64GB desktop drives several years ago. It’s also made of 2xnm 64Gb Toggle DDR 2.0 NAND chips. Samsung started mass production of 32GB eMMC Pro in May, and 64GB eMMC Pro in July. But the companies release the dates and capacity without publishing the percentage of products employing the latest technologies.

#6

Hmmm, while updating the thread, maybe most of the more exotic names (For me as a European) might only be available to Korea? Maybe we should split it up in geographical locations? (World-wide available, only EU, only US, only KR?)

#7

[QUOTE=DoMiN8ToR;2646866]Hmmm, while updating the thread, maybe most of the more exotic names (For me as a European) might only be available to Korea? Maybe we should split it up in geographical locations? (World-wide available, only EU, only US, only KR?)[/QUOTE]

So many European CD and DVD blank brand names can sound quite exotic to me as well. Though SSD’s are used to replace and complement HDD’s, the way they are produced and distributed is very different. There are only very few manufacturers of LCD panels and DRAM chips, but there are thousands of LCD monitor and TV makers and DRAM module makers. Too long lists can’t be helpful to anyone… whenever I try to look for LCD monitor model name, I have to browse through thousands of different model names. At this moment, I can see 2,197 LCD monitor models are listed on Danawa and this is just one small country. There are far more non-listed products than listed ones.

Some of the manufacturers are probably selling mostly in their local markets, in their cities or countries. It is difficult to find out to whch countries Zalman exports PSU’s and cases, but it is easier to find out where the company sells CPU coolers because Zalman’s CPU coolers have been reviewed on some of the larger Western media. Whether Axxen-branded SSD’s are sold in anywhere other than South Korea… is difficult to find out as I myself am little interested in that brand - Axxen CD-R was very cheap, but worse than Princo’s.

#8

great info thanks alot

#9

One of my favorite/least favorite sites is DigiTimes, out of Taiwan.

“Favorite” because it offers “back office/back alley” discussions of manufacturers.

“Least Favorite” for the same reason - it’s sooo vast and confusing.

But always an education, and it dilutes my belief in the spellings on the front of any package or box.

I would LOVE to be able to get a cross-index of Chip Models & Controllers, though, and their Brand-Name model numbers. I have a feeling that, to make this effective, we’d need a columnar approach of something like “Chip Number”, then “Controller”, then “Brand Name By Region”.

(I’m trying to compile this for Wireless Products, by the way - using the Radio Chipset in adapters and routers as if the Same Models would yield best results. Hello, Pipe Dream!)

#10

[QUOTE=ChristineBCW;2650301]One of my favorite/least favorite sites is DigiTimes, out of Taiwan.

“Favorite” because it offers “back office/back alley” discussions of manufacturers.

“Least Favorite” for the same reason - it’s sooo vast and confusing.
…
[/QUOTE]

Unfortunately, DigiTimes is another subscription-based website. Most of the useful information and data are for paid members only. Another unfortunate aspect is it is written in Traditional Chinese and only a tiny part of the daily news articles is translated into English. But it still is one of the best Asian sources.

#11

[QUOTE=Kenshin;2650653]Unfortunately, DigiTimes is another subscription-based website. Most of the useful information and data are for paid members only. Another unfortunate aspect is it is written in Traditional Chinese and only a tiny part of the daily news articles is translated into English. But it still is one of the best Asian sources.[/QUOTE]
Hi Kenny:
For some odd reason I cant find any SK Hynix SSDs in the USA yet? Is their a reason for this?

#12

[QUOTE=alan1476;2650661]Hi Kenny:
For some odd reason I cant find any SK Hynix SSDs in the USA yet? Is their a reason for this?[/QUOTE]

I can’t find any in South Korea, either. The list is from South Korean price comparison website Danawa. Even if SK Hynix makes their own SSD’s like Samsung and Toshiba, they are probably only shipped to OEM brands. Both Samsung and Hynix make both DRAM chips and DRAM modules and they are sold in the retail Yongsan markets in Seoul, but Hynix is much weaker and smaller in the retail market than Samsung. whereas Micron’s Crucial has sold to end users on its own website and through other retailers for more than ten years.

#13

I’ve added a few controllers to the list.
I think we also need to consider when NAND becomes NAND, and if that is at the wafer level, or when it actually becomes a NAND chip.

Example:
OCZ buys wafers from Micron, and builds the NAND chip package at their new fab.
Micron makes the wafer, but it isn’t usable in that form, it’s only when those wafers are bonded together, packaged, and circuit board connectors are fitted that it becomes usable.


#14

[QUOTE=Dee;2650667]I’ve added a few controllers to the list.
I think we also need to consider when NAND becomes NAND, and if that is at the wafer level, or when it actually becomes NAND a chip.

Example:
OCZ buys wafers from Micron, and builds the NAND chip package at their new fab.
Micron makes the wafer, but it isn’t usable in that form, it’s only when those wafers are bonded together, packaged, and circuit board connectors are fitted that it becomes usable.[/QUOTE]

The semiconductor industry in general seems to mean NAND wafer production capacity by NAND manufacturing.

Toshiba produced about 370,000 NAND wafers in a month during the first half of 2012. Reducing production by 30% means about 110,000 less wafers. This one is rather outdates.

The 300mm fab is also slated to mass-produce NAND flash memory based on 55nm processes in late 2006. Toshiba now has a monthly capacity of 450 million (counted in 64Mbit parts) NAND flash memory chips. Capacity will be increased to 750 million units when processes shift to 55nm.

#15

[QUOTE=Kenshin;2650678]The semiconductor industry in general seems to mean NAND wafer production capacity by NAND manufacturing.

Toshiba produced about 370,000 NAND wafers in a month during the first half of 2012. Reducing production by 30% means about 110,000 less wafers. This one is rather outdates.[/QUOTE]

I wonder if this is still true

SanDisk is the world’s largest supplier of flash data storage products. It designs, manufactures and markets industry-standard, solid-state data, digital imaging and audio storage products. SanDisk is based in Sunnyvale, CA. Flash Partners, Ltd., a Toshiba-SanDisk venture established in September 2004, is 50.1% owned by Toshiba and 49.9% by SanDisk.

#16

Super helpful thread!

#17

[QUOTE=alan1476;2650691]I wonder if this is still true[/QUOTE]

SanDisk of Sunnyvale did participate in a kind of venture with Toshiba of Japan, but the venture invested in a few NAND plants.

SanDisk being the largest flash storage products probably means CF and SD cards.

Here’s another news related to the SanDisk-Toshiba JV.

SanDisk Corp has entered into plans to sell Toshiba Corp approximately 30% of the current manufacturing capacity from the two companies’ joint ventures, Flash Partners and Flash Alliance.

“Sole ownership of some 30% of the total capacity of the two fabs will allow Toshiba to be even more flexible in making decisions on production volumes in line with changes in market demand,” the company said.

The transaction is expected to be completed in Q1 2009. Neither company detailed what the total capacity of the two joint ventures currently is, nor did they specify the sale price for the 30% capacity.

#18

Using the Samsung 128GB SSD on my Asus g75 series laptop and it’s a beast! The ultimate machine just got better thanks to the SSD. Havent had much time to check performance stats, but boot times are halved!

#19

[QUOTE=Kenshin;2650664]I can’t find any in South Korea, either. The list is from South Korean price comparison website Danawa. Even if SK Hynix makes their own SSD’s like Samsung and Toshiba, they are probably only shipped to OEM brands. Both Samsung and Hynix make both DRAM chips and DRAM modules and they are sold in the retail Yongsan markets in Seoul, but Hynix is much weaker and smaller in the retail market than Samsung. whereas Micron’s Crucial has sold to end users on its own website and through other retailers for more than ten years.[/QUOTE]

Here is an Anandtech review of Corsair Neutron GTX SSD 240GB based on controllers made by LMAD (Link A Media) recently acquired by SK Hynix.

SK was a Japanese textile company founded in 1939, nationalized in 1945, destroyed during the Korean War, bought by the late Choi Jong Geon, the uncle of the present CEO, acquired Korea National Oil in 1980, and made SKC video tapes and audio tapes in the 1980s and CD-R media in the 1990s. SK Group now has shipping, telecommunications, energy, and at last DRAM and NAND, too. Annual revenue is a little over US$100 billion. The wife of the group’s present CEO and Chairman is the daughter of Roh Taewoo (president 1987 - 1992.) Whether the present SK Group management can drive SK Hynix successfully against Samsung and Micron is not easy to predict. It was lucky enough for SK to succeed in the mobile telecommunications and SK later bought some cable internet service providers. SK has some share of the global energy market as South Korea has to import a lot of petroleum and natural gas and sell gasoline and LPG to all the drivers. There is a limit to growth in that area as domestic production of raw energy sources is virtually zero. What the group makes out of transporting, processing, and distributing oil and gas is negligible compared to what ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell make. SK failed to enter mobile telecommunications markets of other countries, but successfully prevented South Korean government and regulatory agencies from opening the domestic market to NTT and AT&T. The domestic market is small with just less than 50 million subscribers compared to the hundreds of millions of China and the USA, but SK Telecom makes steady profits, billions of US dollars each year, unlike Verizon Wireless and AT&T, because the government officials and those supposed to police businesses are often SK Telecom itself, or the biggest rival KT (Korea Telecom). The steady net income of SK Telecom is important in the future of SK Hynix just as the profits Samsung Electronics had made out of the DRAM business was important for its then-future CPU and NAND businesses, and later also mobile phones and mobile chips as well. It is unlikely SK will give up Hynix too soon even if it becomes clear to everyone it cannot make profits until around 2020. Hynix itself was created by merging the semiconductor businesses of LG Electronics and Hyundai Electronics by the state, the very force that destroyed Daewoo Group, once one of the three South Korean electronics makers that also made tanks, subway cars, rifles, computers, ships, automobiles. Since they are all family businesses, M&A rules usually don’t apply. Family rivalry and pride matter more.