A report issued by ThinkEquity Partners blames Apple for a sudden shortage and price rise for flash RAM. The report states that as Apple prepares for the next generation iPhone, the company has bought out Samsung's entire supply, putting the world's largest producer of flash memory on allocation until April 2009. Hynix and Toshiba are also being affected according to the report.

Consumers of the iPhone and iPod have consistently stood by the motto "more is more" when it comes to RAM capacity.  The 4GB iPhone was phased out almost as soon as it was released as most consumers preferred the 8GB model.  As such, Apple has become the world's largest OEM buyer of NAND flash memory.  Last year iSuppli reported that it bought over 13% of global production, a whopping $1.2 billion worth in 2007.

This same sort of shortage occurred last year when Apple wiped out the supply of flash RAM for the release of the iPhone 3G.  This year the economic recession and cuts in production are further obstacles that will have to be faced in the quest to fulfill Apple's high demand.

Via AppleInsider