Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, records most of its profit from its core business, the microprocessors that serve as the brains of most computers. But the company’s side venture in flash memory — which is used to store songs on digital music players and photos on digital cameras — has been another story.

Although Intel does not disclose financial details of the business, flash-based storage is an intensely competitive industry, with specialty companies like SanDisk and giant electronics makers like Samsung and Toshiba battling for market share amid eroding prices of the underlying high-speed memory. Some shareholders have been pushing Intel to exit that low-margin business, which it operates through a joint venture with Micron.

A hard disk, top, and a flash drive, with no moving parts.