| | Intel, Micron Create
Memory Chip Venture
A WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE NEWS ROUNDUP
November 21, 2005 10:43 a.m.
Intel Corp. and Micron Technology Inc. agreed to form a joint venture to manufacture flash memory, as the two giants target a fast-growing but volatile corner of the semiconductor market.
The new company, to be called IM Flash Technologies LLC, will make NAND flash memory, a variety of chips used to store data in cellphones, digital cameras and other portable products. The two companies will each contribute more than $1.2 billion in cash and assets to the venture. Micron will own 51% of the new company, while Intel will own the remaining 49%.
Intel and Micron said they have also entered into separate long-term agreements to supply Apple Computer Corp. with a significant portion of the venture's output. Apple, which uses flash chips in some versions of its iPod music players, ordered $500 million in flash chips from the new company.
Apple said the payment was part of a series of agreements worth $1.25 billion reached with NAND makers to secure a supply of memory chips for its iPod devices through 2010. In addition to the Intel-Micron venture, Apple placed orders with Hynix Semiconductor Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., and Toshiba Corp. |
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