In a move that would further secure Samsung's hold on the NAND flash memory market, the company said it was in talks with Sony and others to provide chips on a long-term basis. Samsung controls over half the NAND market and recently signed a $500 million contract with Apple to supply memory for its iPod players.

According to the Korea Economic Daily, Sony is looking for 8GB NAND chips and bigger, and the order would account for one-fifth of Samsung's total output for 2006. NAND flash memory is used in MP3 players, cell phones and digital cameras, which has led to a huge increase in demand. Intel and Micron recently forged a $2.4 billion partnership to begin manufacturing flash and combat Samsung.