Samsung, Sony discuss flash supply deal (IMHO no doubt Sony will go flash - Varian already hinted about Samsung)
Mark LaPedus
EE Times
(12/26/2005 11:21 AM EST)
SAN JOSE, Calif. — South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is negotiating a $1.8 billion contract to supply NAND-based, flash-memory chips to Japan’s Sony Corp., according to reports.
The order from Sony could account for one-fifth of Samsung's NAND-based flash-memory production, exceeding the value of its chip sales to Apple Computer Inc., said Chung Chang Won, an analyst at Daewoo Securities Co., in a report from Bloomberg
Another report, which cited an unidentified Samsung official, said that Sony would use the chips in its new MP3 music players. A contract could be signed during the first half of next year, according to the reports.
Samsung, the world’s largest NAND-based flash-memory maker, recently signed a major supply contract with Apple. But in October Samsung blamed the South Korean Fair Trade Commission (FTC) for killing a deal it was putting together to build a $3.8 billion joint-venture flash memory wafer fab with Apple.
Then, last month, Micron Technology Inc. and Intel Corp. announced plans to create a joint venture to manufacture NAND flash memory for use in consumer electronics, removable storage and handheld communications devices, and in particular, to manufacture for Apple. |
