Flash calculator promising cost savings, design flexibility

A new flash cost calculator helps OEMs identify potential savings and explore alternative storage strategies for flash chips at a time when market conditions are putting growing pressure on memory costs. The calculator reduces component costs by selecting flash capacity closer to what the product actually requires, rather than paying for oversized managed components.

According to Gartner, NAND flash prices are forecast to rise 234% in 2026 with a meaningful pricing relief not expected until late 2027. But much of the industry conversation has focused on supply constraints and component prices, noted Steffan Schumacher, CEO of Tuxera. “The more important question is what engineers can do in response.”

Source: Tuxera

Schumacher added that the opportunity isn’t simply to source a cheaper component today, but to design storage architectures that use flash more efficiently and give manufacturers more choice as costs, availability, and technology inevitably change again. Here, Tuxera’s flash cost calculator gives OEMs greater flexibility in how they design and manage embedded storage.

In other words, the calculator increases sourcing flexibility by opening a wider choice of supported raw flash parts and vendors. It also reduces dependence on a single component roadmap. For instance, a product may need only 4 GB of storage, but manufacturers can face increasingly limited choices at lower eMMC capacities.

If the required capacity is no longer available, OEMs may be forced to move to a significantly higher-capacity alternative, potentially paying for far more storage than the product actually needs. Here, the calculator enables OEMs to move from managed flash such as eMMC to raw NAND. “Manufacturers cannot control NAND prices, component availability or suppliers’ product roadmaps, but they can build greater flexibility into how they use flash,” Schumacher said.

This design flexibility is crucial for manufacturers of automotive electronic control units (ECUs) and zone control units (ZCUs), smart meters, industrial equipment, and medical devices, where the impact comes not only from higher flash prices but also from the capacity options available to them. NAND flash prices and sourcing pressures are also likely to rise in edge AI and physical AI designs because devices will demand more storage and data infrastructure.

This is how the calculator works. OEMs can enter their required capacity, annual production volumes, and production lifetime to estimate potential savings, for instance, from moving from managed flash to right-sized raw flash. Moreover, they can enter their own supplier pricing to reflect their individual purchasing agreements.

The flash cost calculator is available now at Tuxera.com/flash-cost-calculator.

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