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by antisthenes 3436 days ago
Such drives technically existed in the early days of consumer SSDs (2009-2010), but even then, the limitations in speed were due to poor controllers and firmware (certain Jmicron controllers, if anyone remembers).

The slow flash chips that you're talking about probably don't exist in sufficient numbers to warrant making a separate product from them. Let's say their lithography produces 5% of slow flash chips. It is probably more cost efficient to sprinkle those chips in existing product lines as spare capacity (all SSDs are overprovisioned, afaik), rather than making a whole separate product line out of them - a product line that will, by definition, be low end and thus have tiny margins.
1 comments
mtanski 3436 days ago
> be low end and thus have tiny margins.

But high volume, it could be in every laptop under $800 price point. A lot of these guys already make low margin high volume products (like Samsung and TVs) and that's okay.

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antisthenes 3436 days ago
There's no 'but' here. The fact that it's not happening is pretty good evidence that economics of those drives don't work out.

I also explained why it can't be high volume - there might not be enough actual low speed chips to make high capacity drives in volume.

I'm not sure if you understand the economics, but no sane for-profit company will trade margins for high volume.

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mtanski 3436 days ago
Sigh. There's no reason to be be a condescending prick (ad hominem).

Simply asking somebody who works in the industry why it's impractical to segment the market by making slower chips. Maybe it's not possible or they cost the same, but I'm just speculating. Hence wanting to find out and understand.

> I'm not sure if you understand the economics, but no sane for-profit company will trade margins for high volume.

Business don't always get a choice, or do make that choice (based on game theory). In the case of SSD vendors it's a decently competitive market with many vendors (Samsung, Intel, Toshiba, Sandisk, ...). In fact it looks like Samsung is going this route: https://www.extremetech.com/computing/236260-samsung-plants-... . Which they might as well do because they one of the largest producers so it makes sense to put pressure on your competitors if (if you can sustain it).

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