IBM, Infineon Form Venture for Chip
To Extend Battery Life of Handhelds
By John Hechinger
Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
International Business Machines Corp. plans a joint effort with Germany's Infineon Technologies AG to make semiconductor chips that would extend battery life in handheld devices.
A major potential benefit from the new chips: a laptop computer could be left in standby mode for years without running down its battery -- instead of eight to 10 hours, as is typical today. That would eliminate the time-consuming process of booting up a machine every time a user wants to check e-mail or write a memo.
Analysts said IBM could be among the first in the race to develop the technology, known as Magnetic Random Access Memory, or MRAM, which uses magnetic -- rather than electronic -- charges to store bits of data.
MRAM has the promise of storing more information and using less battery power than traditional Dynamic Random Access Memory, or DRAM -- used in most computer devices.
Richard Doherty, director of research for Envisioneering Group Inc., a Seaford, N.Y., technology-research firm, said MRAM also could lead to development of cell phones with 1,000 hours of battery life and handheld computers whose batteries could be replaced or recharged only once a month. Mr. Doherty said all the big chip makers are believed to be working on similar projects but that the IBM announcement places the company "among the leaders."
The technology has the potential of replacing a big chunk of the DRAM market, estimated at $30 billion in annual sales. Under the agreement with Munich-based Infineon, expected to be announced Thursday, the companies aim to develop products by 2004.
Terms weren't disclosed. Bijan Davari, IBM vice president of technology and emerging products, said the company expects to spend "tens of millions of dollars" annually to develop MRAM products. About 80 IBM and Infineon engineers and scientists will work on the project. Infineon is a publicly traded unit of Siemens AG, the German engineering and electronics company.
The move is part of a big push into the semiconductor field by IBM, best known for its big-box computers, servers and personal computers. In October, the Armonk, N.Y., concern said during the next two years it would spend $5 billion on new chip plants. The company declines to disclose revenues from semiconductors.
"The competition could get fierce," says Fred Zieber, president of Pathfinder Research Inc., San Jose, Calif. "The stakes are so high."
Write to John Hechinger at john.hechinger@wsj.com |
