Hon Hai takes aim at RIMMs -- Taiwanese co. developing Rambus-compliant connectors
Jun. 18, 1999 (Electronic Buyers News - CMP via COMTEX) -- Adding its
name to the growing list of connector suppliers offering parts that
support the Direct Rambus DRAM architecture, Hon Hai Precision Industry
Co. Ltd. is developing connectors for Rambus in-line memory modules
(RIMMs).
Under an agreement signed with Rambus Inc., Taiwan-based Hon Hai will
develop the RIMM connectors, as well as RIMM-continuity modules and
module heat spreaders for Rambus memory systems.
"With the addition of Hon Hai, the availability of Rambus
infrastructure components worldwide gets a big boost," said Subodh
Toprani, general manager and vice president of Rambus' industry-
enabling division. "OEMs, no matter where they are, now have another
source of supply for connectors."
Hon Hai, which operates in the United States as Foxconn International
Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif., last year ranked 11th in worldwide connector
sales and first in sales in the Pacific Rim, according to Fleck
Research Inc., Santa Ana, Calif. The company lists each of the top 10
PC and motherboard manufacturers among its customers, including Compaq
Computer, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Intel. About 70% of Hon Hai's
$632.5 million in connector sales in 1998 were for PCs.
With its agreement to manufacture the RIMM connectors, Hon Hai
becomes the fourth major connector supplier preparing for a strong
surge in demand for parts compliant with Rambus' memory-bus
specifications. AMP, FCI Electronics Worldwide, and Molex have also
ramped up into high-volume production after developing the products for
about a year.
So far, AMP and Molex's parts have passed Rambus' validation-testing
requirements to show they meet the impedance requirements that enable
transmission of data on the 800-MHz Direct DRAM interface, with FCI
expected to follow shortly.
Hon Hai, which had been developing its RIMM connectors for several
months prior to signing the agreement with Rambus, expects to have its
parts in full compliance with Rambus specifications before the end of
the summer, and to be shipping the parts in volume by early fall,
according to Jeff Pan, the company's RIMM connector product manager.
"Our plan is to ramp up and support about 300,000 per month by the
end of July, and probably double that by the end of August," Pan said.
"We expect, probably starting in September, that the volume will be up
much more significantly. After we pass the validation testing, I
believe we need about two months to allow our customers to try them out
and to use our products to test their designs."
Once the company completes the validation process, it plans to shift
the bulk of its RIMM-connector manufacturing to its facilities in
China, Pan said.
Neither Hon Hai nor any of the other suppliers currently tooling up
for mass production of RIMM connectors has expressed concerns or backed
off from manufacturing plans because of Intel Corp.'s delayed launch of
the "Camino" chipset.
AMP, for example, already has the capacity in place to churn out 800,
000 parts per month, and has plans under way to boost that to 1.5
million per month by September.
|
