Nonvolatile resistive switching has been observed for the first time in CdSe nanowire (NW)/Au Schottky barrier diodes, where a Schottky contact electrode and an Ohmic contact electrode were formed at the Au/CdSe NW and CdSe NW/In interfaces, respectively. The CdSe NWs Schottky devices were found to possess multibit storage ability in an individual nanowire, and exhibited excellent memory characteristics, with a resistance on/off ratio exceeding four orders of magnitude, a long retention time of over 10(4) s and a lower operating voltage of 2 V. By replacing the SiO(2)/Si substrate with a poly ethylene terephthalate substrate, flexible and transparent memory devices with superior stability under strain were realized. The resistive switching of CdSe NW/Au Schottky devices is understood by electron trapping and detrapping in the interfacial oxide layer. Our findings provide a viable way to create new functional high-density nonvolatile multibit memory devices compatible with simple processing techniques for normal one-dimensional nanomaterials.