Toshiba Power Outage Stops Flash Memory Supply

Toshiba sent out a news bit today saying that their Yokkaichi plant is in the midst of a power outage and that this failure (at 5:21AM yesterday) could affect flash memory supply. This failure wont be fixed until sometime Friday, the supply hit planned for shipments toward January and February of 2011. No estimates were given on how this will affect Toshiba's partners or if their products will be able to ship on time. Apple, who is currently using Toshiba for their MacBook Air's SSD, is said to be fine since it also depends on Samsung and Hynix.

The person who says Apple will end up being fine is Brian Marshall, an analyst for Gleacher & Co. Marshall noted that there aren't any shortages in parts and that Apple could draw on the Intel-Micron partnership if they had to. The "crunch" instead could be around iPad components such as their upcoming 9.7-inch LG Display screen. Oh dear oh my!

[Via Electronista]