Toshiba Flash Memory Fades on a Power Blip

Not a good day to be a Toshiba shareholder this Wednesday morning, that's for sure. It all started early Wednesday morning when the company's memory production facility in Yokkaichi, Japan experienced a 70 millisecond power dip.

As a result, Toshiba may be forced to reduce its Flash output in the January through February time frame by a whooping twenty percent, or one fifth of its normal capacity.

This represents approximately eight percent of the world supply but it most likely won't affect the company’s major buyers such as Apple. Tier 2 and tier 3 customers are now bracing for a possible price spike and some are already scrambling to increase inventory levels before the resulting price increase is thoroughly vetted.