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Technology Stocks : WDC/Sandisk Corporation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ausdauer who wrote (13883)	8/14/2000 1:58:44 AM
From: rjk01	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 60323

You never answered my question from few days ago (still would like an answer if you have a moment, you can send it to SI email) I thought you and other might be interested in this article (sndk reference in second half) Semiconductor startup Saifun raises $35m from Siemens group 10.8.2000 \| 18:25 Jonathan Nassie Israeli semiconductor company Saifun Technologies completed its third financing round this week, raising $35 million according to a company valuation of $400 million, TheMarker.com has learned. Saifun’s main backer in this round was Infeneon, the semiconducting division of the Germany-based conglomerate Siemens, certainly a first-class strategic partner for Saifun, TheMarker.com also learned. Company officials refused to comment. Siemens will be incorporating using Saifun’s technology to manufacture flash memory chips. The two companies will also be setting up a joint production facility. The $400 million valuation at which Saifun’s funding round was held is the highest ever actually completed by an Israeli startup. Granted, it will apparently be losing the tiara soon enough: Lynx Photonics Network is in the process of raising capital at a company valuation of $500 million, but it hasn’t completed the round yet. Netanya-based Saifun actually heads Israeli assessors Dolev & Abramovitch Hi-Tech Information’s list of privately-held companies, graded by value. D&A assessed the Israeli fabless at $700 million. Saifun could apparently have raised capital at a higher value than $400 million if it had gone for financial investors, but the company wanted strategic partners instead, specifically Infeneon. Same size and cost, 5x capacity Saifun’s chief allure is its unique manufacturing technique to make non-volatile flash memories - NVMs - with capacity five times that of the competition, without increasing the size of the chip or increasing production costs. These features are a huge advantage, because the main disadvantage of flash memories is that at high storage capacities, they are more expensive than conventional hard drives. The Saifun technology is perfect for companies such as M-Systems Flash Disk Pioneers (Nasdaq:FLSH), which makes 8-megabyte flash memories for Internet-accessing end units, such as cellphones. For comparison, the PCs available today typically have hard drives with a capacity of 10 gigabytes or more. The advantages of flash chips at low capacities are low price, non-volatility when the power fails, and they are also rugged, meaning they survive under harsh conditions. Flash memories are therefore ideal for advanced digital cameras, personal digital assistants such as Palm Pilots, and cellphones. They increase storage capacity without added cost. The real reason SanDisk invested in Tower Semiconductor Saifun was established in early 1998 by Boaz Eitan, a global expert on in flash memories, who worked beforehand for Intel, at its R&D center in Santa Clara, California. The company has carried out several funding rounds. Its initial capital came from Tower Semiconductors (Nasdaq:TSEM), which is also the second-biggest shareholder (14%) after Eitan himself. Tower has an agreement with Saifun granting it exclusive rights to use Saifun’s technology, under certain conditions. Insofar as is known, Tower is the only foundry with rights to use Saifun’s techniques. Tower intends to use Saifun’s technology at its new fab in Migdal Ha'emek, where it will be mass-producing advanced flash memories. Tower and its partners in the endeavor will be spending about $1.5 billion on the new plant. Tower’s exclusive right to the Saifun expertise is apparently the reason that SanDisk Corporation (Nasdaq:SNDK) decided to invest $75 million in Tower’s fab. M Systems is reportedly also planning to investment in the facility. Infeneon apparently plans to use the flash chips for products it manufactures in-house, hence its agreement with Saifun does not obstruct Saifun’s agreement with Tower. Other shareholders in Saifun include Israeli venture capital funds Gemini and Concorde, which invested $5 million two years ago according to a company valuation of $45 million. Gemini and Concorde each hold 5% of Saifun. COO Kobi Rozengarten refused to comment, saying only that the company would supply reliable information when the time was ripe