Elpida’s DRAM sales soar in Q2; DRAM market up 34pc

EL SEGUNDO, USA: Japan’s Elpida Memory Inc. was the star of the global DRAM market in the second quarter, with a robust increase in its pricing causing its revenue to surge by 50 percent from the first quarter, according to iSuppli Corp.

Elpida posted the strongest performance among the Top-5 DRAM suppliers in the second quarter, with revenue rising to $745 million, up from $497 million in the first quarter. Company performance was boosted by a robust 32 percent rise in its DRAM ASP in the second quarter compared to the first.

“Elpida accomplished its strong increases in revenue and pricing by expanding its specialty DRAM sales to mobile and consumer applications,” said Nam Hyung Kim, director and chief analyst for memory ICs and storage at iSuppli. “These specialty DRAMs command higher prices than commodity parts, allowing Elpida to outperform its competitors.”

The table presents iSuppli’s top-10 DRAM supplier ranking the second quarter.

iSuppli: Top-10 DRAM Supplier Ranking the Second Quarter (Ranking by Revenue in Millions of US Dollars)Source: iSuppli, Aug. 2009

The news comes amid a strong performance for the overall DRAM market, with revenue reaching $4.5 billion in the second quarter, up 34 percent from $3.4 billion in the first quarter. This contrasts with a 19 percent decline in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2008.

“Due to a shortage in DDR3 parts and to buyers’ inventory re-stocking efforts, the per megabyte price for DRAM jumped by 18 percent in the second quarter, an unusual increase for a market that customarily sees its prices decline during each quarter,” Kim added.

This 18 percent rise was much higher than iSuppli’s previous forecast of a 2.6 percent increase.

Megabyte equivalent unit shipments of DRAM also grew by 14 percent, surpassing iSuppli’s estimate of 6.2 percent and resulting in a dramatic improvement in overall market conditions.

The other big winner during the second quarter was Taiwan’s Winbond Electronics Corp., whose revenue doubled, rising to $87.6 million, up from $44 million in the first quarter.

Tier-1 results mixed
Among the other Tier-1 suppliers, results were mixed. The Top two South Korean companies -- Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Hynix Semiconductor Inc. -- captured 55.9 percent of the global market, with DRAM sales for each company increasing sequentially by more than 30 percent during the second quarter.

Micron Technology Inc. of the United States saw its share of DRAM revenue dip to 13.9 percent in the second quarter, down from 14.3 percent in the first quarter, owing to the very strong sales growth of the other Tier-1 DRAM suppliers. However, Micron’s second-quarter revenue declined by only 15.2 compared to the same period in 2008, the lowest level of decrease among the Top-10 DRAM suppliers in the second quarter.

Taiwan’s Nanya Technology Corp. also performed relatively well on the year-over-year comparison, with only a 15.4 percent decline in revenue.

“The relatively limited declines of Micron and Nanya, which recently entered a partnership, showed that the companies are seriously striving to increase their scale to become more competitive in the market,” Kim said.

DDR3 shortage continues until the end of the year
iSuppli believes that the recent shortage of DDR3 DRAM will persist through the end of this year.

Limited capital investments will continue to delay the migration to the 5x nanometer process until the first quarter of 2010. Until that time, DDR3 supply will continue to be tight in the market.

The DDR3 shortage recently has been making PC OEMs panic. A few OEMs are considering reducing their DDR3 adoption by returning back to DDR2 as most of Intel’s current chipsets still support dual modes (i.e. DDR2 and DDR3). The momentum of the price increases will definitely decelerate.

However, tight supply will persist and PC OEMs' profit margins are expected to be challenged in the second half of 2010, Kim said.

Intel, Micron achieve most efficient NAND product using 3-bit-per-cell technology

SANTA CLARA & BOISE, USA: Intel Corp. and Micron Technology Inc. announced the development of a new 3-bit-per-cell (3bpc) multi-level cell (MLC) NAND technology, leveraging their award-winning 34-nanometer (nm) NAND process. The chips are typically used in consumer storage devices such as flash cards and USB drives, where high density and cost-efficiency are paramount.

Designed and manufactured by IM Flash Technologies (IMFT), their NAND flash joint venture, the new 3bpc NAND technology produces the industry’s smallest and most cost-effective 32-gigabit (Gb) chip that is currently available on the market. The 32Gb 3bpc NAND chip is 126mm².

Micron is currently sampling and will be in mass production in the fourth quarter 2009. With the companies continuing to focus on the next process shrink, 3bpc NAND technology is an important piece of their product strategy and is an effective approach in serving key market segments.

“We see 3bpc NAND technology as an important piece of our roadmap,” said Brian Shirley, vice president of Micron’s memory group. “We also continue to move forward on further shrinks in NAND that will provide our customers with a world-leading portfolio of products for many years to come. Today’s announcement further highlights that Micron and Intel have made great strides in 34-nanometer NAND, and we look forward to introducing our 2xnm technology later this year.”

“The move to 3bpc is yet another proof point to the remarkable progress Intel and Micron have made in 34-nm NAND development,” said Randy Wilhelm, Intel vice president and general manager, Intel NAND Solutions Group. “This milestone sets the stage for continued silicon leadership on 2xnm process that will help decrease costs and increase the capabilities of our NAND solutions for our customers.”

Global DRAM revenue rises 27.1 percent in 2Q09

TAIPEI, TAIWAN: According to DRAMeXchange, with the production cut effect in DRAM contract price, PC system vendors continue to replenish their DRAM inventory under the low pricing status and resulted in the 23 percent growth contract price in 2Q09.

Given the tight supply, spot price also hikes that DDR2 1Gb 667MHz chip spot price once reached $1.27 in May and it was anticipated to reach $1.5 by the quarter end. However, it is said that a certain DRAM vendor released the low price chip to spot market that trigger the price fallen to the rage of US$1.05~US$1.19. Average price for DDR2 1Gb 667 MHz rose 27 percent to $1.12 in 2Q09.

The 2Q09 DRAM revenue rose about 10 percent~50 percent given the 23 percent growth contract price and 27 percent growth spot price. Samsung and Elpida have outperformed the market and increase 3 percent to their market share. Compared with the overall industry revenue in 1Q09, DRAM revenue for 2Q09 rose 27.1 percent to US$4,043M in 2Q09.

Global own brand revenue ranking for DRAM vendors
According to DRAMeXchange, 2Q09 DRAM revenue increased 27.1 percent. Samsung continued its unchallenged leadership in the DRAM industry with $1,179M DRAM revenue in 2Q09 while its market share has climbed 2.8 percent to 29.2 percent given the upward pricing trend in contract price, technology migration and raise DDR3 portion.

In 2Q09, Hynix's DRAM sales rose 31.5 percent to $928M given the 20 percent average price growth, 10 percent quarterly bit growth and dropping unit cost. Currently, Hynix ranks at the 2nd place and its market share has increased 0.7 percent to 22.9 percent.

Elpida recorded the dramatically 50.1 percent sales increase and strengthened its 3rd market leading position to surpass Micron given the 27 percent ASP growth and 12 percent bit growth.

For the different accounting period (2Q for Micron is March, April and May) it applied for the accounting periods, contract price still decline 2 percent compared with last periods (Dec., Jan. and Feb.).

According to DRAMeXchange, DDR2 1Gb 667MHz contract price was merely $0.88 in March while the contract price increased to $1.16 in June that the revenue upward pattern is less than other vendors. Therefore, Micron would grab 4th place in the ranking while its market share has declined to 13.6 percent in 2Q09 from 15.2 percent in 1Q09.

As for the Taiwanese vendors, Nanya ranks at the 5th position along with $230M DRAM revenue and 34.5 percent QoQ given the upward pricing trend in both spot market and contract market, and peaking utilization rate of outsourcing partner-Inotera.

Benefited from the 27 percent boosting spot price and 42 percent utilization rate from 25 percent, PSC shows the amazing 38.1 percent revenue growth in 2Q09 and its market share has slightly increased.

Winbond announced its 2Q09 DRAM revenue at $80m with merely 8.6 percent QoQ. The market share has declined to 2 percent since growth momentum is comparably weaker than the market. ProMOS also demonstrates 20.9 percent QoQ revenue pattern with the upward pricing trend as well.

Fig. 1: 2Q09 WW DRAM revenue ranking, by own brand DRAM revenue
(Company revenue includes outsourced portion and excludes the sub-manufacturing revenue)Source: DRAMeXchange, Aug. 2009

*Qimonda did not announce any financial results in 2Q09 under the stage of bankruptcy.; Unit: Million USD

Note:
Fig. 1: For Samsung 2Q DRAM revenue , we approximately derived the resulted by deducting LSI revenue from semiconductor based on the assumption that DRAM revenue accounts for 48.3 percent in memory sectors and 2Q09 average exchange rate is $1 against KRW$1,283. We apply this estimation to other vendors by indicating 71 percent for Hynix total revenue, 49.8 percent for Micron, 89 percent for PSC, 90 percent for ProMOS, 94 percent for Nanya and 80 percent for Winbond under the following exchange rate: US$1 against NT$33.09, US$1 against JPY$97.41.

Own brand market share of global DRAM industry (By country)
The Korean vendors share rose 3.5 percent to 53.4 percent compared with 1Q09 and their leader position remained unchallenged in 2Q09.

Shares from the Taiwanese vendors slightly rose to 13.8 percent in 2Q09 from 13.5 percent in 1Q09. The rest of market share is occupied by Japanese vendors(18.9 percent) and American vendors (13.9 percent), as per Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 The market share of own brand DRAM revenue, by countrySource: DRAMeXchange, Aug. 2009

Q2 results reveal healthy inventory positions for major chip suppliers

EL SEGUNDO, USA: Most major global semiconductor suppliers that have reported second-quarter results are currently holding lean levels of chip inventory, putting them in a strong competitive position as demand begins to recover, according to iSuppli Corp.

Of 15 companies that have reported second-quarter results, 11 indicated that their Days of Inventory (DOI) during the period were at a lower level compared to their average level for the past three years. Eight of the companies reported inventories lower than the average by double-digit percentages.

“The latest results from semiconductor suppliers validate iSuppli’s assertion that inventories have been reduced to appropriate levels, down from previously excessive positions,” said Carlo Ciriello, financial analyst for iSuppli.

“Inventory levels are lean—but appropriate—given current revenue levels. With fab utilization so low, semiconductor suppliers can ramp up production to build inventories to meet increased demand, should it be necessary.”

With inventories having been excessive in recent times, companies with DOI of 10 percent or more less than their trailing three-year average are in optimal competitive positions, having adjusted for the new supply and demand equation brought by the dramatically smaller end markets.

With annual chip demand expected to peak in the third quarter to be followed by a decline sequentially in the fourth quarter, the present quarter represents the best—and possibly last chance—for managers to cut inventories in order to meet new equilibrium levels.

The figure presents second-quarter DOI for 15 semiconductor suppliers that have reported results for the period compared to their respective trailing three-year DOI averages.

iSuppli: Average Days of Inventory Compared to Three-Year Average for Semiconductor Suppliers Reporting Second-Quarter ResultsSource: iSuppli

No second-half snap-back for inventories
The world’s leading chip supplier, Intel Corp., in the second quarter held DOI 19 percent below its three-year average.

Other companies running notably lean inventories included Texas Instruments Inc. at negative 10 percent, Qualcomm Inc. at minus 25 percent, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) at minus 25 percent, Micron Technology Inc. at negative 23 percent, NXP at minus 19 percent and Xilinx Inc. at negative 19 percent.

Significantly, companies reporting second-quarter results indicated that there is no major inventory build in the offing.

Intel described its current levels as being “in very good shape,” while Qualcomm has said the inventory contraction “has now stabilized.” AMD said it is “pleased with our current inventory position.”

“Many semiconductor suppliers are anxious about expected demand levels in the fourth quarter, following the conclusion of the peak third-quarter buying season,” Ciriello said. “Because of this concern, they are being cautious about rebuilding inventories beyond what future demand can justify.”

2Q09 branded NAND Flash makers sales rose 33.6pc QoQ to $2.786bn

TAIPEI, TAIWAN: Benefited from NAND Flash suppliers’ production-cut effect and restock demand from emerging market, NAND Flash ASP rose about 20 percent QoQ in 2Q09.

Total branded NAND Flash shipment increased about 10 percent QoQ and it resulted in the overall branded NAND Flash makers’ revenue improvement in 2Q09. 2Q09 branded NAND Flash makers’ total sales increased 33.6 percent QoQ to $2.786bn from $2.086bn in 1Q09.

According to the ranking, Samsung remains its leadership place with 37.2 percent market share and records $1.037bn revenue, followed by Toshiba with 34.5 percent market share and $960mn revenue.

Hynix ranks No. 3 with 10.3 percent market share and $288mn revenue, while Micron takes the No. 4 seed with $236mn. Intel and Numonyx grab No. 5 and No. 6 with $193mn and $72mn, respectively.

Benefited from the inventory replenishment from mobile market, NAND Flash shipment slight increased with raising ASP in 2Q09. Samsung’s 2Q09 revenue was up 38.3 percent QoQ to $1.037bn, while the 2Q09 market share climbed to 37.2 percent from 36 percent in 1Q09.

Toshiba maintained lower utilization in 2Q09, but quarterly sales increased 29.7 percent QoQ to $960mn because of the enhancing ASP. The 2Q09 market share is slightly down to 34.5 percent from 35.5 percent in 1Q09.

With boosting 23 percent QoQ ASP and 40 percent QoQ shipment, Hynix’s sales significantly rose 68.4 percent QoQ to $288mn in 2Q09. The 2Q09 market share is up to 10.3 percent from 8.2 percent in 1Q09.

Micron and Intel camp demonstrated the upward shipment pattern with lower ASP in 2Q09. Micron’s sales rose 18 percent QoQ to $236mn with 8.5 percent market share in 2Q09. Intel recorded $193mn revenue with 24.5 percent QoQ growth rate and 6.9 percent market share in 2Q09.

Numonyx recorded $72mn revenue with 2.9 percent QoQ despite of mild shipment decline and slightly raising ASP in 2Q09. Numonyx market share in 2Q09 is about 2.6 percent.Source: DRAMeXchange

Micron intros new way to increase server memory capacity

BOISE, USA: Micron Technology Inc. has produced the industry’s first DDR3 load-reduced, dual-inline memory module (LRDIMM) and will begin sampling 16-gigabyte (GB) versions this fall.

By reducing load on the server memory bus, Micron’s LRDIMMs provide the option to support higher data frequencies and significantly increase memory capacity.

The new LRDIMMs will be manufactured using Micron’s leading-edge 1.35-volt, 2-gigabit (Gb) 50-nanometer DDR3 memory chips, allowing the company to easily and cost-effectively increase server module capacity because of the chips’ high-density and industry-leading small die size. Micron’s 2Gb 50nm DDR3 product is currently in qualification with customers and is ramping toward high volume production.

Most midrange enterprise servers today utilize approximately 32GB of DRAM per system but this is expected to more than triple by 2012, according to a recent report from Gartner Inc.

With server manufacturers continuing to take advantage of multi-core processors and data centers opting for efficient virtualization technology, memory requirements are being driven ever higher.

By increasing the available memory a server system has, it is able to run more programs concurrently, handle larger data files more efficiently, and generally exhibit better overall system performance.

Micron’s LRDIMMs currently use Inphi’s recently announced isolation memory buffer (iMB) chip in place of a register to reduce the bus load when transferring data between the memory and processor. Micron’s new LRDIMMs reduce this load by 50 percent for a dual-rank module and 75 percent for a quad-rank module, when compared to today’s standard DDR3 server modules -– registered DIMMs (RDIMMs).

By reducing the load on the bus, Micron’s LRDIMMs enable servers to handle higher frequencies of data to improve overall system performance and support increased number of modules for greater system memory capacity.

Today, using RDIMMs, a typical server system can accommodate up to three quad-rank 16GB RDIMMS per processor. However, that same system can support up to nine quad-rank 16GB LRDIMMS per processor, pushing the memory capacity from 48GB to 144GB.

Measuring performance levels, Micron’s 16GB LRDIMM offers an increase of 57 percent in system memory bandwidth, when compared to an RDIMM. And as server power consumption continues to be a top concern for customers, Micron’s LRDIMMs will also operate at the industry’s lowest 1.35-volts.

“With the rise in virtualization, our new 16GB modules allow customers to easily expand their memory capacity. While traditional RDIMMs limit the amount of memory that can be accommodated due to their loading profile, LRDIMMs eliminate that problem by reducing the module load,” said Robert Feurle, vice president of DRAM marketing at Micron.

“And because our LRDIMMs are designed using Micron’s new low-power 2Gb-based 50nm DDR3 chips, which reduces module chip count, we are providing customers with a more cost-effective and efficient means to scale server memory capacity and performance, while also reducing the power levels.”

Micron is currently sampling an 8GB LRDIMM with select enablers. Mass production of its 16GB LRDIMMs is expected to begin in 2010.

DDR3 July contract price likely to rise 5~10 percent

TAIPEI, TAIWAN: The June contract price did not fluctuate since some contract deals between PC OEMs and DRAM vendors are conducted either in monthly basis or quarterly basis. DRAMeXchange believes that DDR3 contract price in July will increase 5 percent~10 percent due to the aggressive CULV promotion and new contract deal negotiation in July.

As for spot market, given the stable range between $1.5~$1.7 of DDR3 1Gb chip with 50 percent premium compared to DDR2 1Gb chip, DDR2 1Gb chip price has dropped to $1 from $1.34 in May, says DRAMeXchange.

From the supply side perspective, DRAM vendors adopted the “Capacity Cut” strategy through the difficult period in 2H’08 given the frozen demand and global financial crisis. Qimonda was filed bankruptcy early this year, while ProMOS maintained the minimum operation.

With the improved economy, DRAM vendors gradually enhance production. DDR3 wafer-in portion is expected to be up to 30 percent in Q4’09 from 15 percent in Q1’09, while Korean and Japanese vendors demonstrate the great ambition on the DDR3 migration.

Nanya and Inotera are the only capable Taiwanese vendors that can dedicate to DDR3 production. However, the DDR3 portion of Nanya and Inotera is below 10 percent, while the remaining 90 percent is occupied by Korean and Japanese vendors (see Fig. 1).

DRAM vendors were suffering from the big financial trough in the downturn economy crisis that this circumstance resulted in the obvious CAPEX gap especially in DDR3 migration. This situation is way different from what DRAM vendors devoted CAPEX in 70nm and 65nm technology. As for Korean vendors, they do aggressively conduct not only DDR3 migration, but 50nm technology adoption as well.

It is expected that at least 70 percent DDR3 chips will be produced with 50m technology. 65nm remains current mainstream technology for Japanese vendors that they do contend competitiveness if the total chip amount can be increased via “Die Shrink” process.

Although Qimonda’s 70nm technology is still adopted to produce DDR3, Micron’s 68nm and 50nm technology will be mainly applied in 2H’09. This technology migration will give Nanya and Inotera some credit to compete with Korean/Japanese vendors. Meanwhile, Powerchip and Rexchip are both qualified for mess production, according to DRAMeXchange (see Fig. 2).

Silicon Motion flash controllers support Micron 34nm MLC flash

TAIPEI, TAIWAN: Silicon Motion Technology Corp., a leading fabless semiconductor company that designs, develops and markets semiconductor solutions for multimedia consumer electronics, announced that Micron Technology Inc. has validated its latest flash controllers for use with Micron's 34nm multi-level cell (MLC) flash product family.

The products include its new 16 gigabit (Gb) and 32Gb parts announced today. The validated Silicon Motion products include SM2682/SM2682LT SD controllers, SM2232/SM2234 CF controllers, SM2235/SM2242 SSD controllers, and SM3251/SM3252 USB flash drive (UFD) controllers, all of which are in mass production.

"Micron is a leader in 3x nm flash technology and we are excited that Silicon Motion has passed through Micron's validation process," said Wallace Kou, President and CEO of Silicon Motion.

"With this validation, we can offer the most advanced SD, microSD, CF, SSD and UFD controllers to support high capacity products using leading edge Micron MLC flash memory. Our controllers will allow customers to benefit from lower cost, next generation, 16Gb and 32Gb MLC 34nm NAND flash for a variety of device formats and platforms."

"Micron's new 16Gb and 32Gb MLC NAND delivers a compelling storage solution for today's consumer electronic and mobile products, offering unparalleled capacity and performance," said Brian Shirley, vice president of Micron's memory group. "Micron is pleased to have worked closely with Silicon Motion through the validation phase to ensure our mutual customers have the opportunity to design-in the latest in NAND and controller technologies."

"We believe that leading edge flash devices can accelerate the adoption of new flash applications, such as SSDs with our controllers," added Wallace Kou. "As the leader in the flash controller market, Silicon Motion will continue to work closely with all NAND flash manufacturers to ensure that our customers have access to the most advanced controllers that capitalize on next-generation technologies."

Micron intros 34nm high-density NAND products

BOISE & FREMONT, USA: Micron Technology Inc. today announced mass production of new NAND flash memory products using its award-winning 34nm process technology.

As consumers demand increased capacity to store more music, videos, photos, and applications in ever smaller portable electronic devices, manufacturers need a storage solution that delivers on capacity, performance, and size.

Micron’s new 16- and 32-gigabit (Gb) NAND chips pair large capacity with performance, providing a compelling solution for today’s demanding portable storage requirements that are tailored to end-customer product dimensions.

The newly architected 32Gb multi-level cell (MLC) NAND chip is 17 percent smaller than Micron’s first-generation 32Gb chip. The 16Gb MLC NAND chip, at just 84mm², provides high-capacity in an ultra tiny package. Micron is also now sampling 8- and 16Gb single-level cell (SLC) NAND chips using the 34nm process.

Additionally, Lexar Media Inc., a subsidiary of Micron and a leading provider of consumer memory products for digital devices –- is taking advantage of Micron’s new 34nm NAND products by delivering a wide range of flash memory cards and USB flash drives utilizing this technology.

“Our industry-leading NAND products are opening new possibilities for some of the world’s most popular consumer electronic devices,” said Brian Shirley, vice president of Micron’s memory group.

“With our new 16- and 32Gb NAND chips in mass production, we are enabling customers to design cost-effective, high-capacity storage in their small-form factor products, using less space and fewer die. In addition, the high-speed interface is ideal in the industry’s quest to continue to increase throughput performance for SSDs.”

Both products feature an ONFI 2.1 synchronous interface that delivers transfer speeds of up to 200 megabytes per second (MB/s). In comparison, traditional SLC NAND is limited to 40 MB/s. With this improved transfer speed, the interface delivers the fastest read and write throughputs offered in today’s NAND devices.

With solid state drives (SSDs) trending toward a SATA 6 Gb/second interface, the high-speed NAND interface enables manufacturers to design products that deliver twice the throughput of today’s existing SATA 3Gb/s solutions. Customers can expect this high-speed interface designed into all future high-density Micron NAND products.

High-capacity memory cards from Lexar
Lexar Media is utilizing Micron’s high-capacity 34nm technology in its high-performance memory cards, including the new Lexar Platinum II 32GB Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) memory card and the Lexar 16GB microSDHC mobile memory card.

By the end of September, Micron’s new 34nm NAND will also be used in a wide range of Lexar microSD and microSDHC cards, Memory Stick Micro (M2) cards, and various capacities of Secure Digital, SDHC, CompactFlash®, and Memory Stick PRO Duo cards.

Additionally, Micron 34nm NAND will be used in Lexar’s JumpDrive USB flash drives, including JumpDrive Retrax, JumpDrive TwistTurn, JumpDrive FireFly, and JumpDrive Secure II Plus.

“By integrating the increased capacity and performance of Micron’s new 34nm NAND into Lexar’s flash memory products, we are giving our customers the ability to take full advantage of their digital cameras, phones and devices,” said Greg Rhine, vice president of sales and product marketing at Lexar Media.

“With Lexar’s cost-effective, high-capacity, and high-speed memory cards and USB flash drives, consumers can capture more pictures and videos, listen to more music, and transfer data between their devices even faster than before.”

The first Lexar memory card to feature Micron’s new 32Gb NAND chip is the new 32GB Lexar Platinum II SDHC memory card. With the ability to store up to 12 hours of high-definition (HD) video or more than 20,000 5-megapixel images, the increased capacity enables photographers to capture important events and memories with photos and HD video.

Beyond video and photography, the Lexar Platinum II 32GB SDHC memory card can be used as a convenient way to expand the available storage in today’s emerging, ultra-portable notebook computer applications, such as netbooks and mobile Internet devices (MIDs).

In addition to its high capacity, the new Lexar Platinum II SDHC card is speed-rated at 60x (Class 4), offering a minimum-sustained write speed of 9MB per second that enables photo enthusiasts to take advantage of their camera’s burst-mode setting to capture many images in rapid succession. In addition, a minimum-sustained read speed of 12MB per second ensures fast transfers of images from the card to a host computer.

Micron’s tiny 16Gb, 34nm NAND chip, which is approximately one-third the size of a keyboard key, is ideal for ultra-small, high-capacity microSD cards, such as the Lexar 16GB microSDHC mobile memory card.

The Lexar 16GB microSDHC card allows consumers to expand the capabilities of their digital devices, such as mobile phones with photo and video capture capabilities, MP3 players, and smartphones. Consumers can store up to 48,000 2-megapixel JPEG photos, 4,000 songs, or 80 hours of standard-definition video content on the Lexar 16GB microSDHC card when used in a digital device.

Micron brings high-performance, low-power DDR3 memory to notebooks

BOISE, USA: Notebooks can now take advantage of optimized battery life and portability with a new line of low-voltage, high-bandwidth DDR3 memory modules introduced today by Micron Technology Inc.

Offering an unparalleled combination of performance and efficiency for notebook computers, Micron’s new modules are available in densities up to 2-gigabytes (GB) now, with 4GB samples coming this fall.

Sustaining battery life and delivering desktop-equivalent performance are two critical criteria when developing notebook computer designs, and Micron’s new modules provide an ideal combination of performance and power efficiency.

The modules are designed using the industry’s lowest 1.35-volt 1-gigabit (Gb) DDR3 components, allowing for even greater power savings compared to standard 1.5-volt DDR3. More importantly, this low-power is achieved without compromise to memory performance - the modules provide an optimum bandwidth of 1,333 megabits per second.

“Across the board, we are making our DRAM more efficient –- from both a power and performance perspective –- which ultimately empowers users to be more productive,” said Robert Feurle, vice president of DRAM marketing at Micron.

“Our new DDR3 notebook modules offer approximately a 20 percent reduction in power usage compared to standard 1.5-volt modules while maintaining DDR3’s high performance advantage, enabling a desktop-class computing experience for portable computers.”

“Our notebook graphics processing units deliver industry-leading performance and visual fidelity,” said Barry Wagner, director of technical marketing at NVIDIA. “Micron has been a valued partner in defining the performance and power parameters necessary for portable computing applications. We look forward to working with Micron to validate their new modules with our notebook processing solutions.”

Hynix to post $397 million for infringing Rambus patents

LOS ALTOS, USA: Rambus Inc. announced that the US District Court for the Northern District of California has ordered Hynix Semiconductor to secure the judgment amount of approximately $397 million through a combination of a bond and a lien on a Hynix property in South Korea for infringing Rambus patents.

The bonded amount of $250 million is required to be posted within 45 days of the order. The lien will only serve as security if a new appraisal of the Hynix property shows a fair market value of at least double the amount of the judgment not secured by the bond. If the appraisal is inadequate, Rambus may ask the Court to substitute other security.

Final judgment in this matter was entered against Hynix on March 10, 2009 in the amount of approximately $134 million for infringement through December 31, 2005 and approximately $215 million for its infringement from January 1, 2006 through January 31, 2009. In addition, the Court awarded about $48M in pre-judgment interest to Rambus.

“We fully expect the judgment against Hynix to be upheld on appeal, and that we will be entitled to collect the entire amount of the judgment,” said Thomas Lavelle, senior vice president and general counsel at Rambus. “We appreciate the Court’s thoughtful consideration in this case, however, we believe Hynix should have been required to post a bond for the entire amount of the judgment. If Hynix’s proposed lien fails to show value of roughly $300 million, we will ask the Court for other security in order to protect Rambus’ interests.”

In addition, the Court ordered Hynix to pay compulsory license fees into escrow pending the outcome of the appeal Hynix filed in this matter. The Court ordered Hynix to pay Rambus royalties on net sales after January 31, 2009 and before April 18, 2010 of 1 percent for SDR SDRAM and 4.25 percent for DDR SDRAM memory devices.

The latter rate applies to DDR, DDR2, DDR3, GDDR, gDDR2 and GDDR3 SDRAM devices, as well as DDR SGRAM devices. Damages and the compulsory license apply to US infringements of the patent claims in suit.

Background of the case
This case was originally filed by Hynix against Rambus in August 2000. The Honorable Ronald M. Whyte of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California split the case into three separate phases with Rambus subsequently prevailing in all three phases.

During the first phase, Hynix alleged that Rambus’ patents were invalid based on the doctrine of unclean hands. The Court issued its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law in Rambus’ favor in January 2006. The Court reaffirmed its finding of no spoliation when it denied Hynix’s motion for reconsideration in February 2009.

The second phase dealt with Rambus’ allegations that Hynix memory products infringed its patents. In April 2006, a jury unanimously found that all 10 Rambus patent claims at issue in that trial are valid and infringed by Hynix memory products. The jury award of approximately $307 million in damages for US sales of infringing Hynix products through December 31, 2005, was subsequently reduced by the Court to approximately $134 million.

In the third and final phase of the case, Hynix (together with Micron and Nanya) tried its remaining claims and defenses against Rambus including antitrust and fraud claims based on Rambus’ participation in a standard-setting organization called JEDEC. In March 2008, a jury found Rambus had acted properly during its participation in JEDEC in the early 1990s. The Court similarly found in Rambus’ favor in a decision issued on March 3, 2009.

Micron intros new single-chip microdisplay panel

SID Display Week 2009 Booth #253, BOISE, USA: Micron Technology Inc. has introduced a new microdisplay panel, leveraging technology it recently acquired from Displaytech, Inc.

The introduction of the new microdisplay panel is part of Micron’s broader strategy of delivering differentiated products that leverage its expertise in semiconductor research and design.

The new panel Micron announced is a wide-screen quarter VGA (WQVGA) microdisplay solution designed to enable portable video and image projection for applications including head-mounted display products and embedded cell phone projectors.

At the heart of the new WQVGA panel is ferroelectric liquid crystal on silicon (FLCOS) technology, which delivers superior image quality and color fidelity when compared to competing microdisplay technologies -– all in a single, tiny package with minimal power requirements.

“The FLCOS microdisplay technology that Micron has acquired from Displaytech has demonstrated success in the market, clearly evident by the fact that more than 21 million panels have shipped in portable consumer electronic products. With Micron now delivering this technology, we are well-positioned to provide our customer base with global support and an even stronger R&D platform to further extend FLCOS microdisplay technology,” said Abid Ahmad, director of Micron’s silicon and systems group.

The WQVGA panel is an integrated solution, incorporating the display panel and control circuitry in a compact all-in-one package. Consuming only 85 milliwatts, the product is low in power, ideal for applications where portability and battery life is most critical. The product adds to Micron’s Displaytech FLCOS microdisplay projection panel line, which includes QVGA, VGA, SVGA and WVGA panels.

As more and more devices integrate capabilities to download images and videos, demand is growing for display technologies to enable consumers to easily view the content they have captured.

A key design challenge for consumer electronics manufacturers is creating a solution that is small enough to fit into today’s ever-shrinking products with minimal power requirements while providing the image size that consumers demand. FLCOS-enabled projection is the leading display technology that can deliver on all of these requirements.

“Size, power and image quality are the leading design criteria for microdisplay panels in portable applications, all of which Micron can provide with its portfolio of FLCOS solutions,” said Bruce Spenner, director of microdisplay marketing for Micron.

The distinguishing advantage of FLCOS microdisplay technology is its fast switching speed which is up to 100x faster than traditional LCOS technology. The switching speed is important for using field sequential color, which, unlike color filtering, produces full color on each individual pixel, blending color by very rapidly integrating red, green and blue frames in sequence.

Additionally, when compared to micromirror technology, FLCOS display technology allows for a fully integrated microdisplay solution, combining the display panel, memory, image processing and light driver control into one chip. By not requiring companion devices, board footprint and power requirements are significantly reduced.

Micron back among top 10 DRAM suppliers in Q1

EL SEGUNDO, USA: Reports of Micron Technology Inc.'s demise in the global DRAM market have been greatly exaggerated, with the company managing to return to the Top-3 rank in the first quarter, according to a preliminary estimate from iSuppli Corp.

Micron of the United States in the first quarter increased its share of global DRAM revenue to 14.6 percent, up from 13.8 percent in the fourth quarter, and up from 11.3 percent from the first quarter of 2008.

The rise back to third place represents an impressive comeback from the company’s recent low point in the first quarter of 2006, when it dropped to the fourth rank in the DRAM market. Micron in the first quarter surpassed Elpida to take the third rank.

Micron’s DRAM resurgence could upset the applecart in the DRAM market.

“Micron’s comeback poses a risk to the health of the DRAM industry and threatens the leading players in the market,” said Nam Hyung Kim, director and chief analyst, memory ICs, for iSuppli.

iSuppli Table: Preliminary Ranking of Top-10 DRAM suppliers in Q1 2009 (Ranking by Revenue in Millions of US Dollars)Source: iSuppli Corp. May 2009

“Until 2003, the company had been a solid No. 2 behind Samsung but had seen its share decline due to its effort to diversify its product line beyond DRAM and its lateness to invest in 300mm fabs. Micron now has renewed its competitive vigor, mainly due to its acquisition of a 300mm fab from Inotera in Taiwan. Micron’s resurgence could trigger a DRAM market share war — which would drive prices down and adversely impact industry profitability in the future,” he said.

Whatever the impact on the market, Micron is likely to continue its advance in the coming quarters.

“iSuppli believes that Micron inevitably will gain market share with additional fab access in the future,” Kim said. “However, Micron’s success in acquiring a bigger piece of the market will depend on how quickly the Inotera fab converts from Qimonda’s old process technology to Micron’s stacked technology. This is something that will requires additional major investments before full production is achieved.”

DRAM disaster continues in Q1
The DRAM industry continues to suffer from overproduction and excess inventories that are causing prices and revenues to drop.

Global DRAM revenue in the first quarter declined by 20.1 percent compared to the fourth quarter and by 44.1 percent from the first three months of 2008. The DRAM per-megabyte ASP in the first quarter declined by 8 percent and shipments of megabyte units dropped by 13 percent compared to the fourth quarter.

In contrast, megabyte unit shipments grew 10 percent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008, indicating that more production cuts are needed to accelerate market recovery during this worldwide recession.

Cutting the losses
Micron in the first quarter managed to outperform the market and gain share by limiting its revenue decline to 15.4 percent compared to the fourth quarter. In fact, all the Top-10 DRAM makers suffered sequential declines in revenue, except for Nanya, which actually mustered a 2.7 percent increase.

However, Nanya’s growth was a result of the comparison with its underperformance in the fourth quarter. Furthermore Qimonda’s move to stop all DRAM production helped Nanya to enter the Top-5 rank.

Samsung also posted a strong performance by containing its revenue decline to 8.4 percent in the first quarter. This gave Samsung a market share of 34.3 percent in the first quarter, a record high for the South Korean electronics giant.

Taiwanese suppliers, Powerchip and ProMOS, suffered substantial sales declines. In the case of Powerchip, its sales contracted 85 percent compared to the same quarter last year.

Revenue ranking of NAND Flash branded firms in 1Q09

TAIPEI, TAIWAN: The 1Q09 total revenue of WW NAND Flash Branding companies was $2.086 billion, which dropped 2.4 percent from $2.137 billion in 4Q08.

Although the industry was still under the continuing impact of global recession and weakening demand, the price remained stable because certain NAND Flash makers adjusted their supply strategies. The overall average selling price increased 18 percent QoQ and the total shipment dropped 17 percent QoQ in 1Q09, says DRAMeXchange.

Fig. 1. 1Q09 Revenue Ranking of NAND Flash branded companies*1. 1Q09 foreign exchange average value: USD against JPY: 93.6 per dollar, USD against Korean Won: 1414 per dollar.
*2. 4Q08 foreign exchange average value: USD against JPY: 96 per dollar, USD against Korean Won: 1363 per dollar.
Source: DRAMeXchange, May 2009.

1Q09 NAND Flash branding company revenue rankings
Samsung’s revenue was $750 million, accounting for 36 percent of the market revenue and retained its number one position. Toshiba’s revenue was $740 million, which accounted for 35.5 percent of the market revenue as number two.

Micron surpassed Hynix with the 1Q09 revenue of $200 million, and accounted for 9.6 percent of the market revenue as number three. Hynix this time dropped to number four position with a revenue of $171 million. Intel's revenue was $155 million in the number five position. Numonyx was at number six position with a revenue of $70 million.

As far as Samsung is concerned, although the 1Q09 ASP went up, the shipment decreased. Under the influence of slow season, output reduction, and delaying new process, the supply bit growth declined. The demand of NAND Flash major applications, such as mobile phone and other consumer electronics products all had weakened in 1Q09.

Even with increasing ASP, the revenue of Samsung remained stable. Samsung's 1Q09 sales revenue was $750 million and its market share increased from 34.9 percent in 4Q08 to 36 percent in 1Q09. Samsung retained its number one position of the industry, according to DRAMeXchange.

Toshiba's NAND Flash ASP increased, but the supply decreased due to production cut. Its 1Q09 revenue remained stable and was at the $740 million level. Its market share was 35.5 percent, which slightly increased 1 percent as compared to Q409.

Micron became the number three with $200 million Q109 revenue. Its 1Q09 ASP and shipment dropped. Micron owned 9.6 percent market share in Q109. The 1Q09 ASP of Hynix increased, but its shipment decreased due to production cut. The 1Q09 revenue of Hynix was $171 million and dropped 22.3 percent QoQ. Hynix’s market share also slid down to 8.2 percent this quarter.

Intel's 1Q09 revenue was $155 million and its market share slightly increased to 7.4 percent, which is a little better than in 4Q08. The 1Q09 revenue of Numonyx remained stable and was estimated to be $70 million. The 1Q09 market share of Numonyx was 3.4 percent, which also slightly increased from the previous quarter.

Top NAND suppliers of the world: DRAMeXchange

DRAMeXchange has recently released its rankings for the top NAND suppliers of the world. I am producing bits of that report here, for the benefit of those interested in NAND and the memory market.

Be aware, that this segment has been hit particularly bad. We have heard of Qimonda's problems, as well as Spansion's. They are trying to battle it out, gamefully, and best wishes to them.

The global semiconductor industry needs the flash memory segment to recover, and fast, to bring the health back in the industry, as well as the missing buzz!

Getting back to DRAMeXchange's report, NAND Flash brand companies released their total revenue of 2008. Samsung's annual revenue was $4.614 billion and it gained 40.4 percent market share, to maintain the number 1. position.

According to DRAMeXchange, the annual revenue of Toshiba was $3.25 billion, and its market share was 28.1 percent at the number 2 position. Its market share increased 3.1 percent compared to 2007.

Hynix's annual revenue was $1.727 billion, with 15.1 percent market share. Though it stayed at the number 3 position, its market share declined 4.1 percent, compared to 2007.

Micron's annual revenue was $897 million. It had a 7.9 percent market share, which enjoyed a 1.8 percent increase when compared to 2007. Micron was number 4. Intel was at number 5. Its annual revenue was $660 million with 5.8 percent market share, which increased 2.1 percent, compared to 2007.

Numonyx's (STMicro) 2008 annual revenue was $295 million. It was at number 6 position with the market share of 2.6 percent, which remained the same as 2007.

According to DRAMeXchange, the 4Q08 total revenue of worldwide NAND Flash brand companies was $2.227 billion, which dropped 19.3 percent from $2.761 billion in 3Q08. Under the continuing impact of global recession and the influence of declining worldwide consumer confidence, the 4Q08 revenue of NAND Flash brand companies showed signs of decreasing.

The overall demand and expenditure for consumer electronics declined. Although bit growth in 4Q08 increased 18 percent QoQ, the overall average selling price (ASP) dropped 32 percent QoQ, says DRAMeXchange. A big thanks to DRAMeXchange.

NAND update: Market likely to recover in H2-09

iSuppli's recently published a report on the current NAND market conditions, which highlighted that Micron had managed to buck the weak NAND market conditions, and was actually closing the gap with Hynix in Q2 2008.

To find out more about the global NAND Flash market scenario, I managed to discuss the health of the NAND market conditions, performance of certain companies, and the possible impact of SSDs on the NAND market, in depth with Nam Hyung Kim, Director & Chief Analyst, Memory, for the market research firm, iSuppli Corp., El Segundo, Calif., USA.

I would also like to thank Jonathan Cassell, Editorial Director and Manager, Public Relations, iSuppli, for helping me out a lot! Without his assistance, this would not have been possible! Many thanks.

Now on to iSuppli and the NAND update. First up, NAND continues to be weak. How much longer, before we can see some sort of recovery?

Nam Hyung Kim says that the NAND market conditions will depend on the suppliers' manufacturing capacity plans and on the global economy. The health of the NAND flash market is largely determined by consumer spending, since more than 85 percent of demand for the memory is generated by consumer-electronics-type products like digital still cameras, mobile handsets and flash storage devices.

"Market conditions won't improve much this quarter. However, iSuppli Corp. does expect NAND prices to stabilize to some degree during the fourth quarter due to a slowdown in certain suppliers' capacity expansion plans. A major recovery is expected in the second half of 2009," he says.

So, what's the reason for Micron to have done better in a weak market scenario?

According to Kim, Micron is doing well based on market share and sales growth—but not in terms of profitability. Micron has been expanding its market share by ramping up production aggressively. The company joined the flash market later than its competitors and is trying to catch up. In the memory world, a supplier needs to have critical scale. Without scale, the company won't be competitive. Thus, Micron is increasing its scale—i.e., its volume—to be more like the size of the top-three suppliers at this moment.

If Micron has been aggressive, why haven't the others? Possibly, the others could have also planned or migrate to 34nm! However, except for Samsung, all of the suppliers are losing money in their NAND businesses now.

"Each supplier has a different product mix and strategy, so being aggressive during tough times is not a suitable approach for certain firms. Others also plan to migrate their process to sub 40 nanometers. However, Micron will be the first one that produces 34nm products this year," adds Kim.

iSuppli has now cut its 2008 NAND annual flash revenue growth forecast from 9 percent to virtually zero. When the slowdown had already been predicted during the end of last year, what was the need to cut predictions?

Kim agrees that this is indeed the second cut this year. "We cut our forecast early this year to 9 percent, which was a dramatic reduction from the more than 20 percent growth forecast previously. I believe, we were the first research firm that cut the market growth dramatically this year, followed by other research firms.

"The NAND flash market is relatively new and has lots of growth potential. However, oversupply issues, along with weak consumer spending, prompted us to cut the growth outlook further this time."

Coming to the subject of solid-state drives, what are the chances of SSDs in helping with a turnaround in the NAND market? Or, are they (SSDs) hyped?

"I should not say SSDs (solid-state drives) are overhyped," adds Kim. "There are lots of issues that the industry must overcome when bringing SSD technology to the real world. Hard disk drives (HDDs) have been used in PCs for more than 30 years, so the movement to SSD technology won't be very rapid."

iSuppli had predicted that SSDs would not impact the market this year or next year. The real prime time for SSD adoption will be in 2010. There are many optimization problems associated with SSDs, which is typical at an early stage in the technology industry. By 2011, iSuppli believes SSDs will be the number one NAND flash market driver in terms of dollar value.

iSuppli also believes that the global NAND flash per-megabit average selling price (ASP) will decline by about 60 percent in 2008, compared to its previous forecast of a 56 percent decline. On quizzing, he says, "As mentioned, the NAND flash market, even in third-quarter, holiday season, won't have a turn around, which brings the ASP down to the 60 percent level."

When NAND is taken out of the equation, how does the semiconductor industry look like? iSuppli believes that the 2009 global semiconductor market growth will be higher than that of this year. The semiconductor market is also cyclical, so it will be impacted by global GDP growth this year.

Finally, how does the research firm forsee Nymonyx (there was an article saying it will conquer NAND Flash)?

According to Kim, Numonyx is still a major NOR flash supplier with limited NAND flash market share. Unlike Intel, Numonyx's focus is on mobile applications. Its joint-venture partner, Hynix, is scaling down its NAND flash production at this time and is focusing on DRAM production.

iSuppli doesn't expect Numonyx to be a formidable competitor in the NAND flash memory market during the near term.

Top 20 global semicon companies -- DRAM, Flash suppliers drop out

IC Insights recently published the May update to The McClean Report, featuring the Top 20 global semiconductor companies. Not surprisingly, there have been some significant movers and shakers. The most telling -- quite a few of the major DRAM and Flash suppliers have dropped out of the Top 20 list!

First the movers! Fabless supplier Qualcomm jumped up four spots, ranking as the 10th largest semiconductor supplier in Q1-08. Next, Broadcom, the third largest fabless supplier, also moved up four positions, up to the 20th position. Panasonic (earlier, Matsushita), moved up to the 19th position, while NEC of Japan moved up to the 13th position.

TSMC, the leading foundry, moved up one position, registering the highest -- 44 percent -- year-over-year Q1-08 growth rate, besides being ranked 5th. Nvidia, the second largest fabless supplier, was another company registering a high YoY growth rate of 37 percent, and moved into the 18th position. Some others like Infineon, Sony and Renesas also climbed a place higher each, respectively. The top four retained their positions -- Intel, Samsung, TI and Toshiba.

And now, the shakers! The volatile DRAM and Flash markets have ensured the exit of several well known names such as Qimonda, Elpida, Spansion, Powerchip, Nanya, etc., from the list of the top 20 global semiconductor companies, at least for now.

Among the others in the list, the biggest drops were registered by NXP, which dropped to 14th from 11th last year, and AMD, which dropped two places, from 10th to 12th. Two memory suppliers -- Hynix and Micron -- also slipped two places, to 9th and 15th places, respectively. STMicroelectronics also slipped from 5th to 6th. IBM too slipped out of the top 20 list.

The top 20 global semiconductor firms comprises of eight US companies (including three fabless suppliers), six Japanese, three European, two South Korean, and one Taiwanese foundry (TSMC). Also, looking at the realities of the foundry market, TSMC's lead is now unassailable. If TSMC was an IDM, it would be No. 2, challenging Intel and passing Samsung, said one analyst, recently, a thought shared by many.

IC Insights has reported that since the Euro and the Yen are strong against the dollar, this effect will impact global semiconductor market figures when reported in US dollars this year.

There are some other things to watch out for. Following a miserable 2007, the global DRAM module market is likely to rebound gradually in 2008 due to the projected recovery in the overall memory industry, according to an iSuppli report. That remains to be seen.

Some new DRAM camps -- such as Elpida-Qimonda, and Micron-Nanya -- have been formed. It will be interesting to see how these perform, as will be the performance of ST-backed Numonyx.

Further, the oversupply of NAND Flash worsened in Q1-08, impacted by the effect of the US sub-prime mortgage loan and a slow season, according to DRAMeXchange. The NAND Flash ASP fell about 35 percent compared to Q4-07. Although the overall bit shipment grew about 30 percent compared to Q4-07, the total Q1-08 sales of branded NAND Flash makers fell 15.8 percent QoQ to US$3.24bn. Will the NAND Flash market recover and by when?

New camps promise exciting times ahead in memory market

The last few weeks of this month witnessed some interesting developments in DRAM. No, there are not signs of a recovery, yet. Instead, the appearance of new DRAM camps, as well as a new memory interface working group, does generate some interest.

However, first, the stats. DRAMeXchange recently reported that the Q1-08 revenues of the branded DRAM makers, impacted by continual low DRAM prices, fell by roughly 5.8 percent compared to Q4-07. Likewise, the contract prices and the spot prices fell 19 percent and 11 percent respectively.

DRAMeXchange further reported that barring Elpida and Powerchip, all other DRAM makers experienced a decline in revenues. Both Elpida and Powerchip witnessed slight increase in their market share during Q1-08.

Categorizing the DRAM industry market share by countries, Japan only increased by 0.9 percent from 13.5 percent to 14.4 percent, as Elpida's revenue increased in Q108. Taiwan's share increased by only 1.1 percent from 13.6 percent to 14.7 percent, as Powerchip gained market share. Korea sustained the same market shares -- 47.2 percent, as in Q4-07.

However, America and Germany lost share. America's share slipped from 13.6 percent to 13 percent, while Germany's share fell from 12.2 percent to 10.8 percent, respectively.

In a recent investor conference, Samsung announced it will increase its Bit Growth Rate from 70 percent to 100 percent, an indication of its desire to continue reigning as a DRAM market leader.

Now, to the really interesting developments. First, Nanya and Micron signed an agreement to create MeiYa Technology Corp., a new DRAM joint venture. One of Nanya's 200mm facility in Taiwan will be upgraded to 300mm starting this year, with the facility going online for production in 2009. Besides MeiYa, Nanya and Micron will co-develop and share future technology.

If this wasn't enough, close on the heels of the Micron-Nanya JV, Elpida Memory and Qimonda AG, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a technology partnership for jointly developing memory chips (DRAMs), and accelerate their roadmap to DRAM products featuring cell sizes of 4F2.

Analysts at DRAMeXchange believe that the Qimonda-Elpida alliance re-shuffles the DRAM competitive landscape. It is also a sign of Qimonda's determination to develop stacked process.

Lastly, ARM, Hynix Semiconductor Inc., LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Silicon Image Inc., Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, and STMicroelectronics announced the formation of a working group, the Serial Port Memory Technology (SPMT), which is committed to creating an open standard for next-generation memory interface technology targeting mobile devices.

SPMT, a first-of-its-kind memory standard for DRAM, is said to enable an extended battery life, bandwidth flexibility, significantly reduced pin count, lower power demand and multiple ports by using a serial interface instead of a parallel interface commonly used in today's memory devices.

Handset vendors have joined the fray as this technology will not only extend battery life, it will allow high-performance media-rich applications as well, that are likely to be the norm on next-generation mobile phones.

Surely, these developments and the emergence of new camps promise some exciting times ahead in the memory market.