Even Google Can't Save the Flash Market

SAN FRANCISCO -- Even the hand of Google(GOOG Quote) may not be enough to lift the flash memory industry out of its doldrums.

The search engine giant has reportedly begun integrating flash-memory chips into its servers, replacing some of the slower magnetic hard drives used for data storage.

The move would appear to be a major endorsement of so-called solid-state hard drives, a product on which much of the flash industry's hope of salvation is riding. But for all Google's size and influence, its newfound taste for flash won't wash away the negative economic conditions currently roiling the flash market, say analysts. ...