Micron in good spot for flash memory shift: CEO By Philipp Gollner
Wed Nov 2, 9:20 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Micron Technology Inc. (NYSE:MU - news) is in a good position to benefit when the computer industry switches to computer flash memory from using hard disk drives to store data, Chief Executive Steve Appleton said.
"We have the technology," Appleton said on Wednesday at the Reuters Semiconductors Summit in San Francisco. "We wake up and we're in a great spot."
Appleton declined to comment on speculation that Micron, based in Boise, Idaho, might form a partnership with Intel Corp.(Nasdaq:INTC - news), the world's largest chip maker. But he said partnerships are one of three paths for Micron to improve, The other two are shifting to more profitable markets and benefiting from industry consolidation, he said.
Appleton said he expects one or two of the five largest makers of dynamic random access computer memory, or DRAM, technology to disappear in the next one or two years.
The five biggest DRAM makers are Samsung Electronics Co. (006660.KS), Hynix Semiconductor Inc. (000660.KS), Infineon (IFXGn.DE) of Germany, Japan's Elpida Memory Inc. (6665.T) and Micron.
Micron has been helped by surging sales of NAND flash memory used in portable devices such as mobile phones, digital cameras and music players. Appleton said he expects flash memory to replace disk drives in notebook computers within five years. |
