"How does this [the Apple/Toshiba Agreement] affect SanDisk?"
I don't see any direct effect on SanDisk. The two companies share the FlashVision output 50/50, and then individually find uses for their share of the chips.
NHP
"Each company [Toshiba and SanDisk] will get 50 percent of Dominion's flash memory production and will separately market and sell their share of the output of the joint venture output of FlashVision . The NAND memory wafers produced at Dominion will mostly be used to manufacture flash memory cards for digital cameras, digital music players, and future generations of cell phones, all high-growth areas."
findarticles.com
May 15, 2000
Toshiba, SanDisk finalise consolidation agreement!
By Michael R. Tomkins, The Imaging Resource
(Friday, April 12, 2002 - 17:56 ET) FlashVision LLC moves from Virginia to Japan... SanDisk Corp. has today announced that it has finalised an agreement with Toshiba Corp. for joint venture company FlashVision LLC to move from the USA to Japan. Created after an agreement signed in May 2000, FlashVision currently uses fabrication space at Dominion Semiconductor in Manassas, Virginia. The company provides equal quantities of NAND flash memory wafers to the two parent companies, which are then used in making flash products in various formats and using various brand-names.
In December of last year, the companies signed a Memorandum Of Understanding to move the plant to a Toshiba semiconductor plant in Yokkaichi, Japan, and today's announcement sees the fabrication move become reality. Production at the new facility is expected to begin in the third quarter of this year, with ramp-up complete by Q1 2003.
With Toshiba having been producing 0.16 micron flash already at the facility to supplement the two companies' production requirements, and the consolidation of all manufacture there, Toshiba and SanDisk expect accelerated production of their multi-level NAND chips in volume quantities. They are also hoping to reduce time to market for their 0.13 micron NAND flash and expecting increased capacity and reduced cost thanks to the consolidation.
Source: SanDisk Corp. |
