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Lexar CEO Sees Big Growth Potential in Little Cards

Techstination feature for Wednesday, August 21, 2002

Big growth potential in little memory cards. Bloomberg Boot Camp, a report on today's technology. They come in a variety of form factors and capacities... .but small memory cards are turning into big business. Compact Flash, Smart Media, MutliMedia Cards and Secure Digital are the most popular types that are used in digital cameras, MP3 music players, PDAs and more. And while cards from different manufacturers may look the same, Lexar Media CEO Eric Stang says there are differences...

"We feel our specialty is the fact that we build advanced features into our products. Our number one feature is speed. We speed rate our cards, we're the only company to do so. And that speed tells you how fast you can read and write data into the card. We also have a host of other new features that we build in as well such as built in USB connectivity. And we also build in innovative software features and other kinds of support functions."

In testing a digital camera not long ago, I had problems using a memory card from a different manufacturer... .problems which were resolved by substituting a card from Lexar. That's not good news for consumers... but Stang says the difference is in the card's controller technology. Lexar is also entering into the growing USB flash drive business...

"The jump drive's a little device that fits in the palm of your hand ... can be put on your key chain. It's the equivalent of about a hundred floppy discs."

In the 128 megabyte version that sells for 120 dollars. Rival SanDisk offers a similar, but memory upgradeable device it calls the Cruzer. Bloomberg Boot Camp, I'm Fred Fishkin.