Shakeout Seen in Next-Generation Memory Race
By Mark LaPedus, SemiMD senior editor
The shakeout in the next-generation memory market continues.
In one example, Rambus Inc. Monday (Feb. 6) acquired privately-held Unity Semiconductor, a memory technology company, for an aggregate of $35 million in cash. As part of this acquisition, the Unity team members have joined Rambus to continue developing innovations and solutions for next-generation non-volatile memory.
Seeking to replace NAND, Unity is developing a so-called CMOx Cross-point Memory, a vertical, four-layer memory array and peripheral control logic device. The memory effect of CMOx is created by moving oxygen ions between two metal oxides under an electric field. Last year, Unity entered into a joint development agreement with Micron to develop CMOx-based chips within Micron’s fabs. Micron is an investor in Unity. The company reportedly hopes to roll out is first devices in 2014.
In another example, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. recently acquired another next-generation memory startup – Grandis, a developer of spin-torque MRAM technology.
Going forward, some speculate that the big memory houses will end up gobbling up more of the smaller players for good reason. In general, most next-generation memory types have failed to live up to their promises. Most technologies are still not in production despite years of R&D. They are expensive to make and difficult to scale. Vendors also have no clue when they will ship their product in volumes.
Bob Merritt, an analyst with Convergent Semiconductors, a research firm, said: “I don’t think it will be a ‘shake out’ in the traditional sense of the demise of some of the programs as much as it will be a ‘shakeup,’ whereby the startups are acquired and inserted into programs that can provide deeper investment pockets and easier access to leading edge fabs.
Merritt added: “One could point to Micron/Numonyx as well as Samsung/Grandis. It is also useful to look at Crocus/RusNano as a new kind of state-supported capitalism. I would not be surprised to see some kind of Chinese-backed venture that would include one of the new and emerging memory technologies.”
Several years ago, Micron Technology Inc. acquired Numonyx, a supplier of NOR flash chips and phase-change memory products. In May, Crocus Technology, a developer of MRAM technology, and Rusnano, an investment fund in Russia, announced that they closed an agreement to create an MRAM manufacturing company, with a combined investment totaling $300 million.
Crocus and Rusnano formed Crocus Nano Electronics (CNE), to build an advanced MRAM facility in Russia, capable of manufacturing medium to high density MRAM products based on Crocus’ Thermally Assisted Switching (TAS) MRAM technology at 90nm and 65nm. Approximately $125 million will be invested in the first year for setting up CNE’s MRAM facility in Russia.
In October, Crocus formed a development agreement and a patent license agreement with IBM. Under the technology agreement, Crocus and IBM will jointly develop semiconductor technology that combines Crocus and IBM’s MRAM technology.
