IM Flash - the joint venture formed by Intel and Micron - will roll out 25 nanometer flash memory chips this week, according to reports.

NAND flash from IMThe 64 gigabit MLC NAND flash memory chip is currently sampling to customers and production is expected in the second quarter, according to the IDG News Service.

It told the service that the devices are aimed at portable media players, solid state drives (SSDs) and smartphones.

IM Flash now a lead over the rest of the market. Samsung is expected to move to a 30 nanometer process technology later this year.

The news was apparently leaked ahead of launch tomorrow by a chip market research outfit called Objective Analysis in a note that said the chips cost of manufacturing wikk be around 50 cents a gigabyte, that compares to $1.75 a gigabyte for 45 nanometre memory.