Toshiba Plans 16GB microSDHC Cards

The company will debut its fingernail-sized 16GB card in coming months, along with physically larger and faster SDHC cards in 16GB and 8GB capacities.

Dragging a bit behind memory mammoth SanDisk in maxing out the available space on its miniscule microSDHC cards, Toshiba introduced plans for its own even 16GB card on Thursday. Besides the miniscule new card, it will also introduce faster full-size SDHC cards in 16GB and 8GB capacities.

Like the original 16GB microSDHC card SanDisk launched back in September, the new Toshiba card will carry a Class 2 speed rating, guaranteeing minimum transfer speeds of 2MB/s or more. By contrast, the larger 16GB and 8GB SDHC card SanDisk cards will both carry a Class 6 rating, for speeds of 6MB/s and greater.

The introduction of the microSDHC card will fill demand for larger and larger storage on mobile phones, where the card format is prevalent.

Toshiba will ramp up production of the 8GB SDHC card in December, followed by the 16GB microSDHC card in Janaury, and finally, the 16GB SDHC card in April. Prices have not yet been announced.