A potential new technology for SSDs. This is a longish paper, and I won't pretend to actually understand the technology involved or its feasibility:
techon.nikkeibp.co.jp
More on the start-up, from "About Unity," on their website (my bolding):
Unity’s value proposition to its target market stems from its proprietary next-generation NVM technology, CMOx™. Unity’s CMOx™ based storage-class memory products will have the price/performance advantage to target today’s high-volume/high-capacity data storage applications and emerging applications such as solid-state drives (SSDs). These SSD applications include notebook, desktop PCs, netbooks, mobile Internet devices (MIDs), smart phones and burgeoning enterprise applications.
Unity Semiconductor will serve the semiconductor memory data storage market as a designer, developer and manufacturer of non-volatile storage-class memory products in partnership with leading memory integrated device manufacturers (IDMs). The company holds proprietary positions in CMOx technology and related memory technologies based upon its extensive patent portfolio—granted and pending. It will engage in selective IP licensing with its memory IDM partners.
Founded in 2002 by individuals who have extensive experience in all aspects of the semiconductor memory industry including the development and manufacture of semiconductor flash memory, Unity Semiconductor is a well-funded start-up with nearly $65M invested to date by sophisticated top-tier venture capital firms--August Capital, Lightspeed Ventures, and Morgenthaler Ventures--and a major hard-disk-drive (HDD) manufacturer. An additional $10M of debt equity brings total funding to nearly $75M.
Me again: I am just guessing here that the major HD manufacturer is Seagate. WDC has already bought their SSD play (Silicon Storage). There aren't too many possibilities out there that fit the description "major hard-disk-drive (HDD) manufacturer." And both Unite and STX are based in Silicon Valley, unlike any of the other HDD manufacturers other than STX and WDC. Not that that would necessarily make it impossible for them to be investors, of course. But the others (HIT, Toshiba, Samsung) don't really the description of "major hard-disk-drive manufacturer" either. They are each much broader than that, HDs are a small part of their operations, and none of them is a "major" HD company in the way STX and EDC are.
Of course, whether it will work or not, or actually be first to market, I can't say. Their time frame seems ambitious for a major new technology like that. |
