SD Now Top Memory Card Format

The SecureDigital (SD) format has passed CompactFlash cards to take the top position in market share among memory cards.

According to the most recent sales data available from The NPD Group, SD cards captured the number one position with 30% of the U.S. flash memory market in October against 28.8% for CompactFlash cards. In third place was Memory Stick, with a 22% market share.

Joseph Unsworth, Analyst - Semiconductor Memories for Gartner, Inc., noted: "The SD Card is well-positioned in terms of performance, cost, and industry support across many applications and that is why I expect the SD card to have the largest share of revenue of all of the flash card formats in 2004."

Panasonic (Matsushita Electric), Toshiba and SanDisk co-developed the SD memory card format. A total of 1,524 products worldwide, carrying 134 of the world's foremost brand names, currently use the SD Memory Card. The format is further supported by the more than 650 members of the SD Card Association, a consortium working to set industry standards and promote the acceptance of SD Memory Cards in a wide variety of applications.

SD cards are widely used in handhelds, both Palm OS and Pocket PC. They are also included in many smart phones.

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