RE: Random thoughts on EDRAM contract
Started thinking about the latest press release and remembered Ramtron had sold EDRAM to Mylex in the past, so I thought I'd revisit the Mylex site to see what I could see.
From the "About Us" section at Mylex:
"Mylex Corporation, founded in 1983, is a leading producer of RAID technology and network management products. The company produces "high performance disk array (RAID) controllers", and complementary computer products for network servers, mass storage systems, workstations and system boards...."
From the Ramtron press release:
"The EDRAM, developed and marketed by its wholly owned subsidiary, Enhanced Memory Systems, Inc. (Enhanced), are being used in "high performance disk array (RAID) controllers"....
I might be stretching it a bit to suggest it was Mylex who made the purchase, but a quick search yielded six Mylex products not only utilizing EDRAM, but for sale at this site and a few others:
pdiint.com
Although the Mylex controllers that use EDRAM aren't their cutting-edge controllers, Data General has had some success with the DACPD Ultra and "maybe" Mylex placed the large order for EDRAM in order to meet the expected demand from Data General or more favorable market conditions in general.
"Data General Signs Supplier Agreement with Mylex"
mylex.com
"Product: DAC960PD-Ultra (PCI-to-UltraSCSI)"
mylex.com
$1.1 million divided by an ASP of $10 to $12 would yield approximately 92K to 110K 4Mb chips. If six products use either 4 or 8 Mb of EDRAM, and each product were sold once, that would utilize nine 4Mb chips in total. Divide the number of chips in the order by nine and that would mean Mylex would have to sell about 10 to 12K units if sales were split evenly among 4 and 8Mb products. It seems to be a reasonable assumption "if" this were the case.
Just for grins:
"The Company's 1997 revenue depended on a customer base that was concentrated. The Company's four largest customers, Digital Equipment Corporation ("DEC"), Siemens, NEC and Fujitsu collectively accounted for 47% of the Company's net sales in 1997. Sales to DEC alone represented 23% of the Company's net sales during 1997. Sales to Siemens, NEC and Fujitsu accounted for 10%, 8% and 6% of net sales, respectively."(Mylex 3/27/98 10-K)
Interesting to note that DEC, Siemens, and at one time, IBM, were customers of Mylex. Maybe disk controllers were the origin of these three company's exposure to EDRAM and the genesis of further applications and development?
Again, just for grins. This was culled from a document at the DEC web site. Not sure if DEC builds it themselves or if Mylex sort of OEM's it for them:
*DIGITAL StorageWorks KZPAC RAID Array 230/Plus Storage Controller
*MS100-BB cache memory allows customers to upgrade an existing KZPAC-CA to a KZPAC-CB at minimal cost and to obtain the highest performance possible from a KZPAC backplane RAID controller
*MS100-BB 8 MB EDRAM cache memory SIMM which upgrades KZPAC-CA to KZPAC-CB. (Note: The MS100-BB is not supported on the one-channel KZPAC-AA; also MS100-AA and MS100-AB, expanded cache modules for the KZPSC, are not applicable to KZPAC.)
Good luck,
MW
P.S.
Stumbled upon this promising investor site.
beta.nasdaq.com |
