At its annual investor webcast Intel announced it will start offering 3D NAND flash drives from H2 2015 and, "within the next couple of years," the technology will enable 10TB SSDs and 1TB mobile storage in a 2mm form factor.
Producing such storage is Intel Micron Flash Technologies, the Intel joint venture with storage vendor Micron Technologies.
3D NAND involves the vertical stacking of chip layers (as opposed to horizontal planar structures) on a single MLC die. The Intel-Micron take on the technology features 32 vertical planar layers and offers densities of up to 256Gbit (32GB) per MLC die or 384Gbit (48GB) per TLC die.
Currently Samsung is the only other company offering 3D NAND (or V-NAND, as Samsung calls it) with the 850 Pro SSD range. As it stands the Intel proposition claims the higher density, but as Samsung is already working on the next generation of V-NAND, 2015 will possibly be the year of 3D NAND.