He named his creation flash because the process of data erasure reminded him of the flash of a camera. The name almost foreshadowed the blinding impact that flash technology was going to have on digital data storage.
Before the invention and commercialization of flash memory, data storage was full of challenges—every type of memory that existed before flash had serious limitations.
- Hard drives and floppy disks offered excellent storage for large amounts of data, but they were bulky, fragile, and slow.
- RAM (Random Access Memory) was faster, but it could only store data as long as it had a regular supply of power.
- ROM (Read-Only Memory) could not be changed after it was made.
- Programmable ROM, or PROM, allowed data to be rewritten once, but after that it could not be changed.
- EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM) was better because it could be erased and rewritten, but this process was very slow, impractical, and involved the use of ultraviolet light.
Flash memory overcame all of these problems.
- It could retain data even when power was off; it could be erased and rewritten; it was fast, portable, and much more durable than hard drives.
- Over time, flash memory became cheaper and more efficient, which is why it is one of the most widely used storage types today. It is everywhere—from USB drives to smartphones to modern solid-state drives in computers.
In this series of two articles, we will explore the fascinating history and evolution of flash memory. We will understand how flash memory capacity and affordability have improved from the early 1980s to the present, how different types of flash memory have evolved, how manufacturers have solved problems like data degradation, and how they have improved performance characteristics like read/write speed, latency, and durability.
Evolution of Flash Memory in Terms of Capacity, Density, and Cost
- Over the past four decades, the capacity of flash memory has exploded from mere kilobytes to multi-TB devices.
- This has been possible because of major technological leaps such as semiconductor process shrinkage, multi-level cell technologies like MLC, TLC, and QLC, and 3D NAND stacking.
- At the time when flash memory was invented, its capacity was very limited. Early flash chips had capacities of only a few hundred kilobits.
- But over time, semiconductor fabrication techniques kept on improving, and manufacturers were able to make chips with greater capacity.
- By 1989, flash memory with a capacity in the range of one megabyte was available, and within a few years, it increased to 16 MB and then 32 MB. Manufacturers used two key strategies to achieve this: the first was to reduce the size of individual memory cells through process called node shrinkage; the second was to enhance the storage capability of each cell.
- One of the major turning points in the evolution of flash capacity was multi-level cell (MLC) technology. This technology allowed a single flash memory cell to store more than one bit of information.
- The manufacturer NEC was the first to demonstrate MLC technology in 1998 with an 80 Mb chip that stored 2 bits per cell.
- Later, STMicroelectronics showcased a 64MB NOR flash chip using the same MLC design. These successful products paved the way for triple-level cell (TLC) technology, which stores 3 bits per cell, and then quadruple-level cell (QLC) technology, which stores 4 bits per cell. These technologies meant that the storage capacity of a flash memory chip was multiplied without any corresponding increase in its size.
- However, soon this two-dimensional scaling began to approach physical limits.
- The next big technology for the industry was a three-dimensional solution called 3D NAND—also known as vertical NAND. This type of flash memory technology uses multiple layers of flash memory cells on top of one another.
- By using this technology, manufacturers can dramatically increase the storage capacity per chip without having to reduce the size of individual cells further. For example, by stacking 24, 48, or even more layers, modern flash memory packages have been able to achieve capacities of more than one terabyte in a single chip package.
- Toshiba was among the first manufacturers to experiment with 3D NAND; by 2013, Samsung had come out with a commercial version of a 24-layer V-NAND product. Today, companies are experimenting with chips that have 96 or more layers.
Key Milestones in Evolution of Flash Memory – Capacity
| Year | Capacity / Chip | Flash Type / Technology | Key Innovation / Detail | Notable Manufacturer(s) |
| 1974 | – | EEPROM (Fowler–Nordheim) | Invention of modern EEPROM using Fowler–Nordheim tunneling | Siemens, Bernward |
| 1980 | – | Flash Memory (SLC) | Invention of flash memory; block programming (vs. byte-by-byte in EEPROM) | Toshiba (Fujio Masuoka) |
| 1984 | – | NOR Flash (SLC) | First presentation of flash EEPROM at IEEE IEDM | Toshiba |
| 1985 | 256 KB | NOR Flash (SLC) | Early Toshiba flash memory chip | Toshiba |
| 1987 | – | NAND Flash (SLC) | Commercial launch of NAND flash | Toshiba |
| 1988 | – | NOR Flash (SLC) | First commercial NOR flash chip | Intel |
| 1989 | 1 Mb | NOR | First megabit-level flash chips | Intel, Toshiba, and others |
| 1992 | 4 Mb | NAND Flash (SLC) | First mass-produced NAND flash chips | Toshiba |
| 1995 | Removable Memory Cards | NAND Flash (SLC) | Introduction of SmartMedia and CompactFlash cards | SanDisk, Toshiba, and others |
| 1998 | 80 Mb | MLC (2 bits per cell) | NEC demonstrates MLC technology, doubling density over SLC designs | NEC |
| 2000 | 64 MB | NOR Flash (MLC) | MLC demonstrated in NOR flash chips | STMicroelectronics |
| 2005 | ~1 GB (approx.) | NAND Flash (SLC/MLC) | Price crossover: NAND flash prices fall below DRAM, enabling mass market adoption | Toshiba, SanDisk |
| Apr 2007 | 16 GB eMMC Package | 3D IC NAND (Stacked SLC) | Toshiba introduces 3D IC technology by stacking eight 2 GB NAND chips | Toshiba |
| Sep 2007 | 128 GB | Stacked NAND (SLC) | Hynix introduces high-capacity stacked NAND flash | Hynix (now SK Hynix) |
| 2008 | 256 GB | Stacked NAND (SLC) | Toshiba’s THGBM package uses 3D IC technology to achieve 256 GB capacity | Toshiba |
| 2009 | 32 GB / 64 GB | NAND Flash – TLC/QLC | Toshiba introduces 32 GB NAND flash using TLC; Toshiba & SanDisk launch QLC NAND (4 bits per cell, 64 Gbit chip) | Toshiba, SanDisk |
| 2010 | 64 GB (SLC) & TLC variants | NAND Flash (SLC and TLC) | Hynix produces 64 GB NAND at 20 nm; Samsung begins mass production of TLC NAND (3 bits per cell) | Hynix, Samsung |
| 2010 | 128 GB | Stacked NAND (QLC) | Toshiba’s THGBM2 package using 16 stacked 64 GBit (8 GB) chips | Toshiba |
| 2011 | 512 GB | Stacked NAND (MLC) | Samsung’s KLMCG8GE4A product marks a leap in capacity with a 512 GB flash chip | Samsung |
| 2013 | 128 GB – 512 GB | V-NAND (TLC) | Samsung commercializes 24-layer V-NAND technology, offering products from 128 GB up to 512 GB | Samsung |
| 2015 | 256 GB | V-NAND (TLC) | Samsung further scales V-NAND technology, increasing density with 256 GB chips | Samsung |
| 2017 | 512 GB (eUFS 2.1) | V-NAND (TLC, 8-of-64) | Samsung launches eUFS 2.1 with 512 GB V-NAND; also, Toshiba introduces 768 GB V-NAND in QLC variant | Samsung, Toshiba |
| 2017 | 4 TB | Stacked V-NAND (TLC) | Samsung’s KLUFG8R1EM flash package demonstrates a leap to 4 TB capacity | Samsung |
| 2018 | 1 TB | V-NAND (QLC) | Samsung launches 1 TB flash package using QLC technology | Samsung |
| 2018 | 1.33 TB | V-NAND (QLC) | Toshiba pushes capacity further with a 1.33 TB flash chip, featuring improved design | Toshiba |
| 2019 | 1 TB | V-NAND (TLC) | SK Hynix introduces 1 TB flash chip using TLC technology | SK Hynix |
| 2022 | 100 TB | MLC 3D NAND | ExadriveSSD, with 100 TB capacity | Nimbus |
| 2023 | 8 TB | 3D NAND (QLC) | Micron launches eUFS 4.0 8 TB flash package, representing the cutting edge of 3D NAND innovation | Micron |
As the density of flash memory has continued to increase, the cost per MB has dropped very sharply. Early flash memory used to be very expensive and was only used in niche applications; however, with process improvements such as MLC, TLC, QLC, and 3D NAND, flash memory has become the dominant storage technology today. It is present in smartphones, USB drives, and high-performance solid-state drives. The reduced cost per unit has made flash memory a ubiquitous component of modern electronics.
The table below highlights how consistently the memory density of NAND flash has increased since 2008, with a corresponding fall in prices.
Key Milestones in the Evolution of Flash Memory – Memory, Density, and Cost
| Year | Memory Density (Gb/in²) | Cost per TB Shipped ($/TB) |
| 2008 | 200 | 3333 |
| 2009 | 280 | 2230 |
| 2010 | 330 | 1770 |
| 2011 | 550 | 1160 |
| 2012 | 550 | 780 |
| 2013 | 850 | 615 |
| 2014 | 1200 | 515 |
| 2015 | 1500 | 401 |
| 2016 | 2000 | 320 |
| 2017 | 2500 | 320 |
| 2018 | 3000 | 252 |
| 2019 | 3800 | 136 |
| 2020 | 4700 | 129 |
| 2021 | 6970 | 115 |
| 2022 | 9414 | 95 |
| 2023 | 9806 | 50 |
Evolution of Flash Memory in Terms of Form Factor and Packaging Innovations
Unlike the form factor of HDDs, which refers to the diameter of the platters, form factor of flash memory points to the shape and the way a flash memory chip is connected with a device.
The form factor of flash memory has changed significantly over the last four decades, driven by the demand for ever-shrinking and high-performance devices. Innovations in flash memory technology have kept up with—or even led—such consumer demands.
In the early days, flash chips were integrated directly onto circuit boards. As consumer electronics emerged, there was a need for removable formats.
In 1994, CompactFlash was introduced and became widely used in professional cameras. By 1999, the Secure Digital (SD) card became an industry standard. The initial capacities for these cards were up to 2 GB. The format quickly evolved into SDHC, SDXC, and later, SDUC, with increased capacity and better performance with each new format. MiniSD cards emerged for a while and were soon replaced by microSD cards around 2005, which continue to power smartphones, tablets, and IoT devices.
USB flash drives also became very popular in the early 2000s due to their simple plug-and-play design. In the realm of internal storage, the first major wave of flash memory came in the form of 2.5-inch SSDs, which became popular as direct replacements for hard drives in laptops and PCs. This format emerged soon after but eventually gave way to the M.2 standard, which is now the industry default for high-performance SSDs.
Key Milestones in the Evolution of Flash Memory – Form Factors
| Year | Form Factor | Description / Capacity / Dimensions | Notable Manufacturers |
| 1994 | CompactFlash (CF) | Introduced as a 50-pin flash memory card; used widely in professional DSLRs. Capacities eventually reached up to 512 GB in later models. | Canon, Nikon, SanDisk |
| 1999 | Secure Digital (SD) Card | Standardized flash card format initially as SDSC (up to 2 GB); evolved into SDHC (up to 32 GB) in 2006 and SDXC (up to 2 TB) in 2009; SDUC (up to 128 TB) announced in 2018. | SanDisk, Panasonic, Kingston; |
| 2003 | miniSD | Introduced as a smaller variant of SD cards. Saw limited adoption and was eventually phased out. | Various manufacturers |
| 2005 | microSD (TransFlash) | Extremely compact flash card, typically used in smartphones, tablets, and single-board computers; dimensions approx. 15×11×1 mm. | SanDisk, Kingston |
| 2006 | USB Flash Drive | Portable “gum stick” drives that plug directly into USB ports; early models sometimes featured a write-protect switch. | SanDisk, Kingston, Kanguru; |
| 2006–2007 | 2.5″ SATA SSD | Early consumer SSDs designed as direct replacements for 2.5″ HDDs in laptops; maintain the same dimensions (typically 7–9.5 mm in height). | Samsung, Crucial, Intel; |
| 2007 | mSATA | A compact form factor (approximately 30 x 50.95 mm) for SSDs in Ultrabooks and SFF PCs; eventually phased out in favor of the more versatile M.2. | Samsung (e.g., last Samsung 860 EVO mSATA drive) |
| 2010 | M.2 SSD | A versatile, ultra-compact form factor; common size is 22×80 mm (2280); supports both SATA and PCIe/NVMe interfaces, offering high performance and capacities up to 2 TB. M.2 has become the industry standard for high-performance, space-efficient storage. | Samsung, Western Digital, Crucial |
| 2016 | UFS Card | A high-performance flash storage format designed to replace microSD; offers improved speeds and efficiency for mobile devices. | Kioxia, Samsung, Kingston, Micron, SanDisk |
| 2016 | CFexpress | Announced as the successor to CompactFlash; based on PCI Express 3.0 and NVMe protocols; supports speeds up to 1.96 GB/s and is targeted at professional imaging applications. | Sony, Nikon, SanDisk; |
| 2016 | U.2 (SFF-8639) | Provides PCIe x4 connectivity in a familiar 2.5″ drive form factor; used primarily for enterprise SSDs requiring high bandwidth and low latency. | Intel, Western Digital |
About The Author
Data Recovery Expert & Content Strategist
