In the end, this could leave a memory industry dominated by the big three--Samsung, Micron and Hyundai--with the fourth spot in the market filled by Germany's Infineon or Elpida, the NEC-Hitachi venture. Both companies are investing in new factories that will use 300-millimeter wafers, which lowers costs, but Infineon is seen as being more aggressive in these plans.
"It is an interesting race that is shaping up," Matas said.
Oddly enough, the slide could help Rambus. While Rambus memory remains far more expensive than standard memory, that higher price gives an incentive for manufacturers to dedicate resources to it. Rambus is the only kind of memory that can be used in Pentium 4 computers.
"In a perverse way, this weakness is good for Rambus," said Osha, explaining that memory makers might be thinking, "If I can get extra for making Rambus, I will." |
