Samsung is the lead supplier in the half billion dollar SSD market, according to a Gartner research note reported by DigiTimes.

It had $185.88m revenues, constituting a 31.7 per cent share of the $585m market in 2008, and up 14.8 per cent from its 2007 share. Storage array SSD supplier STEC was second with $92.06m, 15.7 per cent, down from 2007's 18.3 per cent.

SanDisk was third, selling $54.95m worth of its flash, giving it 9.4 per cent of the market, well down on 2007's 17.3 per cent figure.

Fourth was Intel ($40.3m, 6.9 per cent), coming from relative nowhere with a 2007 share of 0.5 per cent. Smart Modular Technologies was fifth, Mtron sixth, BiTMICRO seventh, and there in eighth position is new entrant Fusion-io with 2008 sales of $12.55m and a 2.1 per cent share.

Samsung, Intel and Fusion-io respectively had the biggest rises in market share. ®