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SanDisk ships 32GB memory card for phones

Currently, smartphone MicroSD cards top out at 16GB. Removable card would match maximum internal capacity of high-end phones like the iPhone 3GS and Nexus One.

Brooke Crothers Former CNET contributor

Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.

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Brooke Crothers

March 22, 2010 10:36 a.m. PT

SanDisk announced that it is shipping a 32GB memory card for smartphones--the largest capacity to date.

Currently, smartphone MicroSD cards top out at 16GB. The removable SanDisk microSDHC card would match the maximum internal capacity of high-end phones like the Apple iPhone 3GS and Google Nexus One.

SanDisk follows Samsung, which announced its intention in January to begin mass production of a 32GB MicroSD card this month.

The Milpitas, Calif., company is mass-producing the new cards based on a third-generation 32-nanometer X3 (3-bit-per-cell) technology, which makes it possible to pack 32GB of storage into a tiny MicroSD card.

Buyer beware: That much memory in that small of a space doesn't come cheap, however. The card has a suggested retail price of $199.99. It comes with a five-year warranty.

As a yardstick, a 32GB SanDisk SD card (SD cards, used widely in digital cameras, are physically larger than MicroSD cards) is priced under $100 at online retailers such as Amazon and Newegg.