Expo-Sandisk CEO says sees growth via phones, PCs

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Sandisk Corp. Chief Executive Eli Harari said on Friday he sees significant growth in coming years, fueled by consumers' increased appetite for chip-based memory in mobile phones and laptops.

ADVERTISEMENT
"We expect significant growth in a number of markets," he told Reuters in an interview at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

More and more consumers are carrying hundreds of songs, pictures and video in their pockets, on mobile phones, digital music players and hybrid devices.

Many of those devices use flash memory chips, which are smaller than hard disk drives. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Sandisk is a leading maker of flash memory cards and devices that use flash memory chips.

Harari said more than 150 million phones are now equipped with slots for its memory card, a figure he said he hopes will rise to more than 500 million in five years.

"Everyone is trying to figure out how to play in this brave new world," Harari said.