By Mark LaPedus
Enterprise-based bring your own device (BYOD) programs continue to become more commonplace. In fact, 38% of companies expect to stop providing devices to workers by 2016, according to a global survey of CIOs by Gartner.

What would happen if half of all global DRAM production, two-thirds of NAND flash manufacturing and 70% of the world’s tablet display supply suddenly disappeared from the market? For high-tech companies, this could be the outcome if current tensions escalate to the point of war on the Korean peninsula, resulting in the disruption of South Korea’s technology manufacturing base, says IHS iSuppli.

Intel telegraphed its future directions. The chip giant has named Brian Krzanich as its next chief executive, succeeding Paul Otellini. Krzanich, Intel’s chief operating officer since January 2012, will become the sixth CEO in Intel’s history. As announced, Otellini will step down as CEO. In a research note, Hans Mosesmann, an analyst with Raymond James, said: “We are not entirely shocked by the news but note that some investors preferred an external option on the belief that new blood was needed. Giving Krzanich’s manufacturing background we think the appointment is an indication that Intel will continue Paul Otellini’s strategy of building bigger/better fabs to attack the market. We also believe the move toward better manufacturing processes (like the 450mm transition) will remain front and center.” Added RBC Capital analyst Doug Freedman: “The move to appoint Renee James (as president) is likely in support of the vision of Krzanich’s and the board has laid out for the future of Intel. This appointment validates the increasing importance of on-going software development to Intel’s future, whether it be internally or in collaboration with partners.”

Microsemi has inked a foundry deal with Intel. Microsemi is currently engaged with customers and has started designs utilizing Intel’s 22nm tri-gate technology. Product delivery is anticipated to begin in late 2014 to early 2015.

Infineon and GlobalFoundries announced a joint technology development and production agreement for 40nm embedded flash (eFlash) process technology. The cooperation will focus on technology development based on Infineon’s eFlash cell design and manufacturing of automotive and security microcontrollers with 40nm process structures.

GlobalFoundries has collaborated with Cadence to provide pattern classification data for manufacturing processes of 20nm and 14nm. GlobalFoundries is using the Cadence Pattern Classification and Pattern Matching Solutions.

SEMI announced that Philip Yeo, chairman of Spring Singapore, and Lee Kok Choy, country manager of Micron Technology Singapore, have been voted by the SEMI Singapore Regional Advisory Board as recipients of two prestigious awards recognizing their contributions to the development and success of the Southeast Asian semiconductor industry. The awards will be presented during festivities held at Semicon Singapore 2013 on May 7.

Soitec has finalized a ZAR 1,000,000,000 (more than $100 million) solar financing bond issued by CPV Power Plant No.1 Bond SPV, an affiliate of Soitec Solar GmbH. The bonds will finance the construction of a 44 MWp utility-scale concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) solar power plant in Touwsrivier, South Africa.

Applied Materials and The Center for Science Teaching and Learning (CSTL) announced the San Francisco Bay Area grand-prize winning team and nine finalist teams in the 2013 Clean Tech Competition.

Rudolph has purchased selected assets related to 3D metrology from Tamar Technology.

Proteus Digital Health has completed a second closing of its Series F financing, raising $62.5 million in total. New corporate investor Oracle joins Otsuka, Novartis, Sino Portfolio and others in this funding round. Proteus is working to create a new category of products. Called Digital Medicines, these new pharmaceuticals will contain a tiny sensor that can communicate, via a digital health feedback system, vital information about an individual’s medication-taking behavior and how their body is responding.

Is Mindspeed Technologies on the block? The supplier of semiconductor solutions for communications has retained Morgan Stanley as a financial advisor to assist the board in evaluating various strategic alternatives available to the company.

Spansion has acquired the microcontroller and analog business of Fujitsu Semiconductor for approximately $110 million, plus approximately $65 million for inventory.

Amkor Technology announced that Stephen Kelley has been appointed to serve as president and CEO. He succeeds Ken Joyce, who previously announced his intention to retire.

ASE remained the world’s largest OSAT in 2012, according to the new rankings from Gartner.

By Mark LaPedus
The term carbon footprint seems to be “old hat” and yesterday’s measure of sustainability. “Sustainable development” is the new term. But what is it and can someone please define it? The recent European Coatings Show provided a clue, according to Lux.

For years, smart watches have failed to take off for one reason or another: they looked ugly, had weak functionality, or the battery life was lousy, according to ABI Research. However, a new collection of smart watches have emerged that could change consumers’ perceptions. Market intelligence firm ABI Research projects more than 1.2 million smart watches will be shipped in 2013.

Intel announced its results and cut its CapEx by $1 billion from $13 billion to $12 billion. Hans Mosesmann, an analyst with Raymond James, made the following observations: “With smartphones/tablets not contributing much for Intel in 2013 and the foundry growth vector still 2-3 years from being a real business, Intel is, in our view, quite vulnerable. The hope is for a datacenter recovery as an offset in 2H13 – we’ll see. Interestingly, Intel indicated in relation to its foundry strategy that it would not enable competitors that license ARM processor technology. Outside of programmable logic devices (PLDs), isn’t everybody of significance already using ARM?”

For total fab spending, GlobalFoundries plans to spend $4.4 billion this year to expand production as demand for smartphones and tablets jumps, according to Bloomberg. The spending compares with $3.8 billion last year.

TSMC raised its capital spending. Spending will be $9.5 billion to $10 billion, compared to an earlier forecast of $9 billion, according to Bloomberg. TSMC is accelerating its 20nm and finFET production.

In a blog, Applied Materials said it has recently completed the electrical characterization of through-silicon via (TSV) structures. This development is important because TSVs are the vertical interconnections that carry power and high-bandwidth speed signals between the stacked die of layered logic and memory devices.

Recently, more than 270 students from National Tsing Hua University in Hsinchu, Taiwan, crowded into the campus auditorium to hear Mike Splinter, chairman and CEO, of Applied Materials, to deliver a talk. The Applied Materials CEO told students to follow their passion.

Soitec’s solar unit has completed a debt financing plan for its Touwsrivier project in South Africa.

Soitec announced consolidated sales of 72.7 million euros for the fourth quarter, down 9.3% on a yearly basis. On a sequential basis, Q4 electronic sales were up by 19.1%.

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted a book-to-bill ratio of 1.14 in March, up from 1.10 from April, according to SEMI. id=highlights

Mentor Graphics announced the opening of a new Mentor-sponsored electronics design laboratory at The University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC), based in the Zhejiang province. Mentor has donated more than $10 million in EDA software and support to enable UNNC students to graduate with in-depth knowledge of leading-edge design methodologies.

ASML announced its results and said the contract of Eric Meurice, president and CEO, ends next year. As of July 1, ASML’s leadership will be comprised as follows: Peter Wennink, ASML’s CFO, will be president and CEO; Martin van den Brink, ASML’s executive vice president, will be president and chief technology officer. Meurice will be chairman of ASML and act as adviser to the new leadership and the supervisory board until the end of his contract on March 31, 2014.

Intermolecular has entered into a multi-year technology development and IP licensing agreement with Micron Technology, focused on technology development and related IP for advanced memory technologies. Intermolecular has been working on DRAM technology with Elpida, which is being acquired by Micron. Now, with Micron, Intermolecular is expanding into the nonvolatile memory front with the memory maker, said Dave Lazovsky, president and CEO of Intermolecular. “New materials and device architectures are increasingly needed to meet future embedded and mobile technology requirements, and partnering with Micron in this area is a significant milestone for Intermolecular,” he said.

Tessera has named Richard Hill as interim chief executive and executive chairman of the board. Hill replaces former president and CEO Robert Young, who has decided to step down amid pressure from an investment firm.

Altera has agreed to acquire TPACK, a subsidiary of Applied Micro Circuits Corp. TPACK delivers FPGA-based optical transport network products targeting packet and optical networking equipment suppliers.

”According to Dow Jones VentureWire and other news reports, Avago has reached a deal to acquire Javelin Semiconductor, a manufacturer of CMOS power amplifiers (PAs) which services the mobile market,” said Doug Freedman, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets.

Netronome has raised $19 million in series E and related financing from Sourcefire, Intel Capital and existing investors DFJ Esprit and the Raptor Group. The company is making a next-generation flow processor line, the NFP-6xxx, which is built using Intel’s 22nm tri-gate technology.

Smartphones are forecast to account for 26% of the $30.0 billion NAND flash memory market in 2013. The NAND flash market is forecast to grow 12% in 2013, from $26.8 billion in 2012, according to IC Insights.

Self-Assembled Sponges
Using a novel self-assembly approach, the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research have created a new flexible mineral inspired by deep-sea sponges. The technology could one day enable futuristic body armor.

Researchers recreated sponge spicules using calcium carbonate and a protein of a sponge. Spicules are tiny spike-like structures found in many organisms. They deter predators because they are hard, sharp and prickly.

The nanometer size of the calcite bricks facilitates bending of the synthetic spicules. The radius of curvature upon bending is very large compared to the size of the individual particles. This prevents a fracture of the brittle mineral bricks. Source: University Mainz

Researchers devised synthetic spicules using silicatein-α, which is responsible for the biomineralization of silicates in sponges. Researchers used silicatein-α to guide the self-assembly of calcite spicules, which are similar to the spicules of a calcareous sponge.

The self-assembled spicules, 10 to 300 um in length and 5 to 10 μm in diameter, are composed of aligned calcite nanocrystals. The spicules are initially amorphous, but transform into calcite within months.

The synthetic spicules are elastic. This feature is linked to a high protein content. With nano-thermogravimetric analysis, researchers measured the organic content of a single spicule to be 10% to 16%. In addition, the spicules exhibit wave-guiding properties even when they are bent.

Phase-Change DSA
Since the 1960s, the industry has been trying to commercialize phase change memory (PCM). Sometimes called PCRAMs, PCM exploits the phase change behavior of chalcogenide materials. In theory, PCRAMs are a possible replacement for today’s solid-state memory devices.

Micron Technology and Samsung Electronics have recently shipped low-density PCM devices for limited applications. But in general, PCM is difficult to scale and expensive to manufacture.

Power consumption is another problem with PCM. The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has developed PCM technology at a power-consumption level below 1/20th of its present level. To accomplish this feat, KAIST has devised a novel approach using directed self-assembly (DSA).

Researchers used a block copolymer to form a thin nanostructured SiOx layer, which locally blocks the contact between a heater electrode and a phase change material. Using this approach, the writing current is decreased fivefold, as the occupying area fraction of SiOx nanostructures is increased from a fill factor of 9.1% to 63.6%.

Using DSA, researchers were able to reduce power faster than expected. “This is a very good example that self-assembled, bottom-up nanotechnology can actually enhance the performance of electronic devices. We also achieved a significant power reduction through a simple process that is compatible with conventional device structures and existing lithography tools,” said Keun-Jae Lee, a professor of KAIST, on Nanowerk’s Web site.

Dirty CD-SEMs
The scanning electron microscope (CD-SEM) has been used in the fab for decades as a means to measure the critical dimensions of complex structures.

Some believe the CD-SEM will soon run out of steam. One of the problems with the CD-SEM is contamination, which could become a showstopper for measurements at the nanometer scale.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is looking to prolong the life of the CD-SEM, by developing cleaning and other improvements to the existing technology.

Charged particle beam-induced contamination in the SEM is the issue. There is a buildup of carbonaceous material on the surface of the sample, where the ions or electrons are focused. This, in turn, results in characteristic dark patterns, making repeatable quantitative measurements difficult or impossible.

In the 1990s, NIST tested a prototype low-energy (20 Watt) plasma unit. The system, designed by XEI Scientific, was able to clean the CD-SEM by flooding it with oxygen plasma. Later, NIST collaborated with the IBSS Group to develop a modified plasma-cleaning device. That device works in a wider vacuum range and also has up to 99 Watts of power.

Evaporated gold-on-carbon sample imaged initially (a) and after 10 minutes of continuous imaging at twice as high magnification (b) showing excessive amount of electron beam-induced contamination. The same sample after hydrogen plasma cleaning and 10 minutes of continuous imaging at twice as high magnification (c), now without the detrimental effect of contamination. Source: NIST

New research indicates that the electron bombardment itself during extended measurements can act as a cleaning process for a variety of samples. With the research, NIST and others devised the so-called Contamination Specification. These are steps that SEM users can take to determine whether their instruments need to be cleaned and how to implement an effective cleaning process.

“We know how to get the instruments clean, and we know how to clean the samples,” said András Vladár of the Semiconductor and Dimensional Metrology Division (SDMD), on NIST’s Web site. “We learned that when you clean it, the instrument can remain contamination free for months unless a dirty sample is used.”

—Mark LaPedus

By Mark LaPedus
Altera has entered into an agreement for the future manufacturing of its FPGAs based on Intel’s 14nm tri-gate transistor technology. Intel will provide foundry services for the FPGA giant. That puts the processor giant on a collision course in the foundry business against the likes of GlobalFoundries, Samsung, TSMC and UMC

The Altera-Intel deal could change the landscape in the foundry business, in which Intel will likely become a much bigger player in the arena. But does Intel have staying power to remain in the foundry business? Added John Vinh, an analyst from Pacific Crest Securities: Altera’s “foundry agreement with Intel is exclusive for the foreseeable future. We believe Altera will have exclusive access versus Xilinx at 14nm and effectively have the right of first refusal at 10nm. Strategically, we believe this is likely the most significant aspect of this agreement in that it prevents Xilinx from having access.”

At SPIE, ASML Holding disclosed various milestones with its extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology. ASML’s EUV production tool, dubbed the NXE:3300B, has demonstrated resolutions of 13nm for lines and spaces and 18nm contact holes. In addition, ASML demonstrated a 40-Watt source with dose control and under good collector protection conditions in six 1-hour runs. It also demonstrated a 55-Watt source in a 1 hour run. But that’s a far cry from the eventual goal. By 2015, ASML hopes to deliver a 250-Watt source for the NXE:3300B, thereby enabling a throughput of 126 wafers an hour.

With the help of self-aligned double patterning (SADP), sometimes called spacer, ASML’s NXE:3300B also demonstrated the ability to print lines and spaces down to 9nm. The work was done in conjunction with ASML, Applied Materials and Imec.

At the International Semiconductor Strategy Symposium in Europe (ISS Europe) on Feb. 24-26, the European semiconductor industry discussed 450mm fabs and other chip topics. In addition, European Commissioner Neelie Kroes floated the idea of creating an “Airbus for chips,” a European initiative for the semiconductor industry comparable to the launch of the Airbus in the aviation industry.

Also at ISS Europe, Malcolm Penn, chairman and CEO of Future Horizons, said that the decline of the major European chip makers has been a result of a defeatist attitude, not necessarily fundamental structural issues. He suggests European chip makers should build a 450mm fab jointly and operate it as a foundry.

SEMI has announced the release of “Global Trade War and Peace: Unified Approaches to a Global Solar Energy Solution,” a white paper containing recommendations to move beyond trade litigation and encourage an accelerated path towards dispute resolution.

In case your calendar has turned into a blur, take note: Semicon is near! SEMI, in collaboration with leading investment groups, has announced the Silicon Innovation Forum (SIF). The forum will bridge funding gaps for new and early-stage companies with manufacturing and technology solutions. SIF will be held in conjunction with Semicon West, on July 9 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Peregrine Semiconductor rolled out its latest version of its UltraCMOS process technology, dubbed Semiconductor Technology Platform 8 (STeP8). UltraCMOS is a variant of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology called silicon-on-sapphire (SoS).

Also in Spain, Skyworks Solutions said it is ramping several antenna-tuning products with leading smartphone manufacturers. The tuning devices are based on SOI technology.

The RATP Group, the fifth-largest urban transport operator worldwide, has awarded Soitec and Philips/Step an LED lighting contract for its metro and network stations.

Soitec and Medina College of Technology have signed a cooperative agreement for concentrating photovoltaic technology in Saudi Arabia.

GT Advanced Technologies has entered into a development and licensing agreement with Soitec to develop and commercialize a hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) system for producing GaN template substrates.

Mentor Graphics announced record financial results for the company’s fiscal fourth quarter and year ended Jan. 31.

During a conference call, Walden Rhines, chairman and CEO of Mentor, said the quarter was an all-time revenue and EPS record. Rhines also has a mixed forecast for the overall IC industry in 2013. “For next year, the analysts project mid-single-digit growth, but the general attitude is less positive,” he said.

Mentor Graphics rolled out the Kronos Cell Characterization and Analysis platform.

A blogger discusses Applied Materials, saying the company is at the cyclical trough and its prospects should improve with an increase in equipment spending.

Applied Materials announced that Bob Halliday has been named senior vice president and chief financial officer. Halliday previously was executive vice president and chief financial officer of Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates prior to Applied’s acquisition of the company in November 2011.

Micron Technology announced the Tokyo District Court’s issuance of an order approving Elpida’s plan of reorganization. Elpida’s plan of reorganization calls for Micron to acquire Elpida. In addition, mixed-signal foundry specialist LFoundry has acquired Micron’s fab in Italy.

Whatever happened to Conexant Systems? The chipmaker recently went private to avoid a takeover. Now, the company this week implemented a restructuring agreement. As part of the plan, Conexant voluntarily filed protection under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.

Photomask maker Photronics has announced its intent to acquire the shares of its majority-owned Taiwan subsidiary, PSMC.

After a loss and a proxy battle, Aetrium is considering options that may include a sale or other disposition of one or both of its reliability test and test handler product groups.

According to IHS, the competitive landscape of the cell-phone integrated circuits business has completely transformed over the past five years, with Qualcomm and Samsung capitalizing on the rise of smartphones and 4G.

By Mark LaPedus
Apple, the world’s largest chip buyer, this year is expected to procure nearly $28 billion worth of semiconductors, up 15% from $24 billion in 2011, according to iSuppli. Apple is set to expand its lead in global chip purchasing in 2013, with growth of 12.3%.

Apple posted mixed results. “Our most recent checks confirm a lull in Apple’s iPhone production in 2Q12, down roughly 22% sequentially toward 29 million units,” said Craig Berger, an analyst with FBR. “Checks suggest Apple securing monthly iPhone 5 production capacity of 18 million to 20 million units, well ahead of Street sales estimates.”

Apple has also acquired fingerprint security company AuthenTec for $356 million.

SEMI reported that more than 60% of semiconductor equipment and materials companies say IP challenges have had an adverse impact on their companies.

GlobalFoundries is moving forward with the final construction for the extension of Module 1 at its Fab 8 campus in New York.

Rambus and GlobalFoundries disclosed the results from their collaboration on two separate memory architecture-based silicon test chips at 28nm.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) and ARM announced a multi-year agreement extending their collaboration beyond 20nm to deliver ARM processors on finFET transistors.

Rohm has taken a step in the foundry business. Under an agreement, the Japanese company will manufacture FRAMs for Ramtron.

Korean foundry vendor Dongbu HiTek has been certified to implement high-reliability ICs per the MIL-PRF-38535 standard.

Toshiba will cut production by 30% within its NAND flash memory fab in Japan amid a downturn in the sector.

Micron Technology’s recent purchase of bankrupt Japanese entity Elpida is a risk, according to iSuppli.

IC Insights forecasts the automotive IC market will grow 8% to $19.6 billion in 2012, up from $18.2 billion in 2011.

Samsung maintained its LCD TV leadership amid dismal market conditions.

Synopsys has completed the acquisition of Ciranova, a privately held electronic design automation (EDA) company.

By Mark LaPedus

MEMC rolled out FOX-Si, a silicon wafer offering designed for delivering advanced finFET technology with oxide dielectric isolation (FOX). Utilizing MEMC’s silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology, MEMC can offer FOX-Si wafers at competitive prices.

In Taiwan, capital equipment spending is expected to reach about $9 billion in 2012, an increase from $8.5 billion spent in 2011, according to SEMI.

Worldwide photovoltaic manufacturing equipment billings declined for the third consecutive quarter, falling another 20% for the quarter and 60% from the same quarter last year, according to SEMI.

Photovoltaic polysilicon prices are forecast to drop 48% and wafer prices 56% in 2012, according to Solarbuzz. With such severe price declines, only 12 Chinese PV polysilicon manufacturers are still producing, and more than half of these companies are running at reduced utilization rates. Wafer plant utilization is forecast to average only 53% in 2012, according to the firm.

Global semiconductor sales increased in May, according to the SIA, but the industry is likely to see only modest IC growth in 2012. C.J. Muse, an analyst at Barclays, warned: “Weakening end market trends are starting to show up in the SIA data, with May semi revenue reverting back to negative. We could see semi revenues tracking flat to slightly negative for 2012, versus our official forecast of flat to up +4% Y/Y.”

Tablet shipments will surpass notebook shipments in 2016, according to NPD DisplaySearch.

In a survey, Gartner found that the main activities moving from PCs to media tablets are checking email (81% of respondents), reading the news (69%), checking the weather forecast (63%), social networking (62%) and gaming (60%).

With its planned purchase of Elpida Memory, Micron Technology will become the world’s second-largest supplier of DRAMs, according to IHS iSuppli.

The Hybrid Memory Cube Consortium (HMCC), led by Micron Technology and Samsung Electronics, has announced some new members: ARM, HP and SK Hynix.

Struggling Renesas Electronics is looking at more layoffs and fab closures.

Ramtron, a developer and supplier of nonvolatile ferroelectric random access memory (FeRAM), has rejected an unsolicited takeover offer from Cypress.

United Microelectronics Corp. has licensed IBM’s technology to expedite the development of the foundry’s next generation 20nm CMOS process with FinFET transistors. This agreement between UMC and IBM is only inclusive of IBM’s 20nm CMOS and FinFET. A spokesman for UMC said: ”UMC will continue with standard CMOS at 20nm and finFET.”

By Mark LaPedus
Applied Materials announced the appointment of Gary Dickerson as president. He was recently the chief executive of Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, which Applied Materials acquired in 2011. In his new role, Dickerson will report to Mike Splinter, chairman and chief executive, and will be responsible for the day-to-day operation for the company’s four business units.

Applied also released the results of its fourth annual solar energy survey. The survey found consumers are optimistic about the future of solar power.

Soitec has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to receive a $25 million award to support its new North American solar manufacturing facility in San Diego.

Forecasts for 2012 semiconductor market growth are for slow growth. The forecast at Semiconductor Intelligence is for 2% growth. North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment a book-to-bill ratio of 1.05, according to SEMI.

Worldwide wafer fab equipment (WFE) spending is on pace to total $33 billion in 2012, a decline of 8.9 percent from 2011 spending of $36.2 billion, according to Gartner Inc. Gartner said the market will return to growth in 2013 with WFE spending projected to surpass $35.4 billion, a 7.4 percent increase from 2012.

Samsung and Apple captured 55% of global smartphone shipments in Q1 and more than 90% of the market’s profits, according to ABI Research. Sony is increasing its CMOS image sensor production. 

Micron Technology posted another loss in Q3. C.J. Muse, an analyst with Barclays Capital, said: “Clearly, the results for the May quarter as well as the August quarter guidance were worse than our consensus expectations coming in and it now seems likely that the trough is being pushed out by one more quarter to August. But with that said, management did convey continued optimism around a 2H recovery in memory.”

Cypress Semiconductor has commenced a hostile takeover effort to acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Ramtron International for $2.68 per share.

Separately, ESI, a supplier of laser-based equipment, has acquired EOLITE Systems, a designer and manufacturer of fiber lasers.

Rudolph Technologies has acquired the assets of of an inspection firm. The addition of NanoPhotonics’ inspection technology and its substantial intellectual property portfolio will strengthen Rudolph’s established presence in packaging. .

Micron Technology may be the winner in the competition to acquire Elpida Memory, offering more than $2.5 billion (200 billion yen) as well as assurances of the continued operation of Elpida’s operations in Japan, according to several reports from Japan-based sources.

The final round of bidding closed Friday. Japan’s Jiji press service said Micron “likely will receive preferential negotiation rights Monday (May 7), and a final deal could be concluded by the end of the month.”  About half of the Micron funds would go to pay off creditors, with the remainder invested in the Elpida operations, the report said, quoting unidentified sources close to the negotiations. A Japanese court needs to approve the deal, which may take until August.

The addition of Elpida’s capacity would give Micron roughly a 25 percent share in the worldwide DRAM market, according to IHS iSuppli, making it the second-largest DRAM maker after Samsung and moving beyond SK Hynix. Elpida has a large fab in Hiroshima, in southern Japan, and a smaller packaging operation in Akita in the northern part of the country.

“Micron has projected that Elpida would be able to keep both plants if the facilities’ book values are slashed to reduce depreciation costs,” Jiji reported. General assurances that the Japanese company’s employees would continue to have jobs, at least for the time being, also will play a role in the final decision, the report said.

SK Hynix issued a regulatory filing last week saying it was no longer in the running to buy Elpida. Private equity firm TPG Capital and Chinese fund Hony Capital have submitted a joint bid.

Elpida is Japan’s last remaining maker of DRAMs, a sector Japan-based companies dominated in the 1980s and for most of the 1990s. Elpida was established in 1999, originally as NEC Hitachi Memory, Inc., and took on the Elpida name shortly thereafter. In 1993, it took on the DRAM operations of Mitsubishi Electric Corp., and began working together with Taiwan-based Powerchip Semiconductor (PSC). In early 2007 Elpida and PSC set up a DRAM manufacturing joint-venture company, Rexchip Electronics Corp.

Shares of Elpida Memory, Inc. will be delisted as expected Wednesday (March 28) from the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), where its share price had dropped to a single yen (1¥) in the final days of the stock’s trading. Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission also delisted Elpida’s Taiwan depository receipts (TDRs).

Elpida issued a statement regarding the TSE delisting, saying “Elpida endeavored to meet the expectations of its shareholders but unfortunately encountered insurmountable difficulties.”

Elpida separately announced that the Examiner of the bankruptcy case, Atsushi Toki, will work with two co-trustees, Elpida CEO Yukio Sakamoto and an outside attorney, Nobuaki Kobayashi.

The Tokyo District Court also issued an order to commence the corporate reorganization proceedings for Elpida and Akita Elpida Memory, Inc.

The company sought bankruptcy court protection after racking up debts of 448 billion yen ($5.4 billion). It continues to operate, however, and is hoping to complete a restructuring plan by this August. The last Japan-based DRAM maker is hoping that it will be acquired by Micron Technology or another bidder. It operates a large DRAM fab in Hiroshima, Japan, and another, smaller fab in Taiwan through its subsidiary there.

By David Lammers

Micron Technology Inc. will take control of two flash memory fabs now owned jointly with Intel Corp., purchasing the assets of IM Flash Singapore (IMFS) and the IM Flash Technologies (IMFT) assets in Manassas, Va., the companies announced Monday (Fab. 27).

The Singapore fab is located in the Woodlands industrial park.

Intel said it is selling its assets in the two fabs for $600 million, with half paid in cash and the remainder “deposited with Micron, which may be refunded or applied to Intel’s future purchases under the NAND Flash supply agreement.”

Also, Intel and Micron will expand their joint flash development program to include development of emerging memory technologies.

Micron will supply Intel with NAND Flash memory from its facilities, and the companies said the IMFT joint venture NAND manufacturing facility in Lehi, Utah — now producing 20nm NAND — will continue to operate “with minimal changes to its existing operations.”

“The new NAND Flash supply agreement with Micron gives Intel better flexibility to meet growing demand for SSDs and other products,” said Robert Crooke, general manager of the non-volatile memory solutions group at Intel.

Hans Mosesmann, an analyst with Raymond James & Associates, said: ”Strategically, the deal allows Micron to add 25,000-
30,000 wafers per month in the faster growth and higher margin NAND segment. NAND is not a core area for Intel relative to its focus on mobile processing, and we believe Intel is only looking to secure enough capacity for its SSDs. Strategically, a solid move for both companies.”

Jim Handy, principal analyst at memory research firm Obective Analysis, said “this is not a big change for Intel. The company has not made follow-up investments in its Singapore joint venture fab, IMFS, since IMFT’s existing capacity has been sufficient for Intel’s SSD needs, and process migrations have partly offset the need to add capacity.”

The SSD market has grown more slowly than Intel expected, requiring fewer NAND chips.  For Micron, on the other hand, NAND has become more important to its bottom line as the DRAM market has tanked.

“Last quarter, Micron’s profits came largely from its NAND flash business,” Handy said. “For a quite reasonable sum, Micron is increasing its capacity.”

Micron also wants to work on next-generation memories with Intel and its robust R&D team. Handy said the various memory vendors are going in different directions, with SanDisk working on ReRAM and Toshiba mainly focused on MRAM. Samsung’s acquisition of Grandis in August 2011 indicates its interest in MRAM, he said.