Cost and capacity of 3D NAND flash

3D NAND will increase SSD capacity -- but by how much? Will they offer twice as much capacity?

3D NAND is a type of flash memory that gets its name from the way that its memory cells are stacked on top of each other. The technology is in its infancy.

Stacking cells vertically provides a higher capacity to volume ratio, improves electrical performance and reduces power consumption.

Most of the 3D NAND technologies are focused on lower cost as well as higher densities. Initial production products will not offer much higher densities than current MLC NAND chips, but they might be able to offer them in smaller, cheaper packages, which would increase SSD densities at a lower price.

Products are too far out at this stage to predict with any kind of confidence how they will affect SSDs' capacity.