The Japanese earthquake and tsunami may have a huge impact on Apple’s flash memory supply. But the problem is nothing compared to those of smaller companies. There will be a shortage of NAND flash memory because Toshiba had to shut down its factories.
Toshiba produces 40 percent of the world’s flash memory. The company had to shut down its manufacturing plants to assess the damage due to the rolling blackouts that have been implemented throughout the country. The power shortage is due to the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Apple is one of the major consumers of NAND. It uses 20 percent of the total world production for its iPad, iPhone, and iPod lines. Samsung and Toshiba are the major suppliers of Apple’s NAND needs. The release of the next iPhone might be delayed because this situation.
Apple might be able to survive the NAND shortage but other smaller companies could suffer worst because of this development. Big companies such as Apple, Hewlett Packard, Nokia, Motorola, and Samsung could get their share of components once their available but smaller companies Acer and ASUS would feel the squeeze.
At present, there’s already a shortage of iPad 2. Ordering from an online store takes four to five weeks before the unit is delivered. But analysts state that the iPad 2 shortage is not connected with the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
