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Taiwan group expects PRAM chips in three years A government-funded Taiwanese research institute says it will have phase-change memory products out within three years, while another memory technology to rival DRAM (dynamic RAM), magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM), may be available by the end of 2008. DRAM price falls 25 percent A glut of DRAM (dynamic RAM) on the market and sluggish demand due to a holiday in China caused the price of the most widely used computer memory chip to fall 25 percent in a matter of weeks, DRAMeXchange Technology reported Tuesday. 4:36 a.m. PDT Sony and Qimonda join for DRAM design venture Sony and German memory chipmaker Qimonda plan to form a joint-venture chip design house to develop DRAM for consumer and graphics devices, the companies said Tuesday. October 2, 4:31 a.m. PDT Hynix joins PRAM development fray Hynix Semiconductor signed a long-term licensing agreement with phase-change memory technology developer Ovonyx, joining a list of rivals trying to develop products out of the technology. October 1, 5:29 a.m. PDT European PC buyers should win from falling US dollar The declining value of the U.S. dollar should allow PC vendors to offer bargains to people living in the euro zone, while U.S. consumers probably won't feel much of a pinch, according to a leading economist. September 21, 3:51 a.m. PDT DRAM prices plunge to new lows, expected to keep falling Anyone looking to add a bit more memory to their computers won a gift from the DRAM industry. Heavy competition has caused prices to tumble and industry analysts predict further price declines. September 20, 3:43 a.m. PDT HP plans solid-state drives in future business laptops Hewlett-Packard plans to offer solid-state drives (SSDs) as an option in all professional series laptop PCs starting from next month because the drives operate faster, conserve battery life, and are more durable than hard disk drives. September 19, 4:19 a.m. PDT Nokia, others back new flash memory standard Seven of the world's top mobile phone technology companies are backing the development of a new flash memory standard to be used in mobile phones, digital cameras, and other consumer electronics devices. September 14, 5:28 a.m. PDT DRAM finally finds a home in mobile phones The rapid uptake of smartphones around the world has ensured the future of DRAM (dynamic RAM) in mobile handsets, where the chips are used in every unit shipped. September 3, 4:04 a.m. PDT Fujitsu files to block Nanya DRAM from Japan A day after winning a patent infringement lawsuit against a Taiwanese memory chip maker Japan's Fujitsu Ltd. has filed to have the chips in question barred from Japan. August 31, 4:07 a.m. PDT EC accuses Rambus of DRAM 'patent ambush' Six months after U.S. regulators capped royalties that vendors must pay to Rambus, the European Union (EU) is taking a close look at the company's monopoly on the DRAM (dynamic RAM) chip market. August 24, 4:35 a.m. PDT Update: Seagate planning flash-based solid-state drives Seagate Technology plans to add solid-state drives based on flash memory chips to its lineup of storage products sometime in 2008, the company said Thursday. August 23, 4:23 a.m. PDT IBM, TDK to work on compact MRAM chips IBM and TDK will work together to develop higher-capacity, more compact MRAM chips, the companies said Monday. August 20, 5:07 a.m. PDT Impact of Samsung power outage less than feared All six Samsung Electronics chip production lines hit by a power outage were back up by noon Saturday, easing fears the disruption could affect the supply of NAND flash memory chips to iPhones, iPods, and other devices. August 6, 7:31 a.m. PDT iPhone memory chip supply could be disrupted by power outage at Samsung plant A faulty transformer caused a power outage that halted six of Samsung Electronics' chip production lines on Friday afternoon. August 3, 5:38 a.m. PDT Poor memory chip sales widen Infineon Q3 losses German chip maker Infineon Technologies failed to stem losses in its fiscal third quarter largely due to the poor performance of its memory chip spin-off Qimonda. July 27, 8:16 a.m. PDT China's SMIC reports yet another loss Red ink continues to flow from Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC). China's largest chip maker reported another loss during the second quarter as its struggle with profitability dragged on. July 27, 4:38 a.m. PDT Overbuilding will keep DRAM chips cheap Several memory chip makers are scrambling to increase spending on new factories even as chip prices remain in the doldrums. Users stand to benefit most because as the new factories ramp up production, the fresh output should keep chip prices down. July 25, 6:53 a.m. PDT ProMOS bucks DRAM trend, raises spending forecast ProMOS Technologies raised its projected 2007 spending on new memory chip plants this year, bucking expectations that falling DRAM prices might cause companies to rein in such spending. July 19, 6:52 a.m. PDT DRAM market pauses in price drop, analyst says Struggling memory chip vendors may see a ray of hope in the near future as prices for DRAM chips stopped their long slide during the first half of July, according to a report released Tuesday. July 17, 10:24 a.m. PDT Samsung's Q2 hit by weak DRAM market Samsung Electronics saw a sharp fall in operating profits during the three months from April to June due to the weak market for computer memory chips. July 13, 4:48 a.m. PDT iPhone, new iPods to spur flash prices Sales of Apple's iPhone and new iPods slated for release later this year will mark the end of cheap flash memory for a time, and that means users may see fewer bargains on older digital music players or bundled flash memory cards. July 6, 4:59 a.m. PDT Powerchip denies rumored Renesas tie-up in China Taiwan's largest DRAM maker, Powerchip Semiconductor, on Monday denied a local media report that it planned to build a chip factory in China with a Japanese partner. July 2, 5:23 a.m. PDT Samsung opens world's biggest chip plant in Texas Samsung Electronics opened a $3.5 billion memory chip factory in Austin Thursday, the biggest such plant in Texas. June 15, 4:53 a.m. PDT Flash guys show certified ReadyBoost drives Flash memory stick makers are showing off USB (Universal Serial Bus) drives at Computex that have been certified to work with Windows Vista's ReadyBoot and ReadyBoost functions, which improve boot-up times and the software start-up speeds in PCs. June 8, 7:01 a.m. PDT Via develops namecard-sized PC board Taiwan's Via Technologies has a knack for making motherboards smaller, and its latest design pushes the boundary of what's possible further than ever before. June 5, 6:13 a.m. PDT Taiwan's miCard chosen as global memory card standard A Taiwanese research institute has produced a new global memory card standard, the miCard (Multiple Interface card) designed to work in smaller consumer gadgets such as digital cameras, mobile phones, as well as any device with a USB (Universal Serial Bus) plug, which are common on PCs. June 1, 5:47 a.m. PDT Gartner slashes semiconductor forecast Falling prices for DRAM chips and microprocessors badly hurt the global semiconductor market, which will likely limp to a sales increase of just 2.5 percent in 2007, according to an analyst report released Thursday. May 31, 8:59 a.m. PDT Samsung embeds 4GB storage for 3G phones Samsung Electronics has squeezed 4GB of storage into a mobile phone chip set that the manufacturer believes could eliminate the need for external memory card slots. May 30, 8:16 a.m. PDT Powerchip seeks control of flash memory maker Powerchip Semiconductor, the largest DRAM maker in Taiwan, is seeking management control of flash memory maker Macronix International. May 28, 2:07 p.m. PDT Intel, STMicroelectronics merge flash units In a continuing search for profits in the flash memory business, Intel and STMicroelectronics agreed on Tuesday to spin off some of their chip units to create a new semiconductor company. May 22, 9:04 a.m. PDT Samsung puts finishing touches on DDR3 memory Samsung Electronics is putting the finishing touches on its DDR3 memory chips ahead of their commercial release later this year. May 14, 5:55 a.m. PDT DRAM price crashes through $2 Users looking to add more DRAM (dynamic RAM) to their PCs are likely to continue to see bargains throughout May and June, as prices of the memory chips continue to crash. May 8, 4:34 a.m. PDT Intel cutting up to 1,000 jobs in New Mexico Intel plans to lay off as many as 1,000 workers when it stops producing flash memory chips at an outdated fabrication plant in New Mexico this August, the company said Wednesday. May 2, 9:04 a.m. PDT Samsung making bigger, faster flash memory chip Samsung Electronics has started mass producing flash memory chips that both hold more data and work at higher speeds than competing chips, it said on Sunday. April 30, 4:39 a.m. PDT Memory maker Qimonda plans $2.7B fab Despite forecasts of excess supply next year in the DRAM (dynamic RAM) market, Qimonda, the world's second-largest memory maker, plans to build a 300-millimeter fabrication plant in Singapore to boost production. April 26, 7:57 a.m. PDT Hynix breaks ground on $4.1 billion plant in Korea South Korea won out as the location for a 3.8 trillion won ($4.1 billion) chip factory for Hynix Semiconductor, despite speculation China might win the project. April 26, 5:49 a.m. PDT Global chip glut hit bottom in Q1, TSMC says A worldwide semiconductor glut hit bottom in the first quarter, as did sales at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the company said Thursday. April 26, 4:41 a.m. PDT Dell brings solid state to Latitude Not to be outdone by laptop rival Sony, Dell yesterday announced the availability of SSD (solid-state drive) technology for its Latitude D420 and D620 notebooks.  April 25, 3:00 p.m. PDT Samsung executive pleads guilty to price fixing An executive at Samsung Electronics has agreed to plead guilty to charges that he took part in a conspiracy to fix prices for memory chips bought by Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and other PC vendors, the U.S. DOJ (Department of Justice) said Thursday. April 19, 1:21 p.m. PDT Intel to demonstrate possible DRAM replacement Intel Chief Technology Officer Justin Rattner plans to give the company's first public demonstration of its PRAM (phase-change RAM) technology at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) conference, which starts Tuesday in Beijing. April 16, 4:54 a.m. PDT Samsung profits slide on weak memory chip market Samsung Electronics saw operating profits slide during the first three months of this year on weakness in the memory chip market, it said Friday. April 13, 6:23 a.m. PDT DRAM prices continue to plunge Prices for the most popular DRAM (dynamic RAM) chips continue to fall in the first half of April, DRAMeXchange Technology reported Tuesday, and have dropped below the cost of production for many manufacturers. April 10, 5:19 a.m. PDT Sun to refile DRAM price fixing suit Sun Microsystems Inc. is promising to file a new lawsuit after a federal judge on Thursday threw out Sun's complaint that Hynix Semiconductor Inc. and other manufacturers of DRAM (dynamic RAM) illegally inflated their prices. April 9, 2:02 p.m. PDT Spansion passes Intel in cell-phone flash market Spansion posted a sharp rise in the number of NOR flash chips it sold to mobile phone makers in 2006, allowing the company to push Intel to second place in that market segment, according to an analyst report released Monday. April 2, 2:23 p.m. PDT New Hynix CEO takes over a remade company South Korean memory chip maker Hynix Semiconductor appointed a former government official as its new chairman and CEO, Kim Jong-kap. March 30, 5:45 a.m. PST ProMOS raises memory plant spending ProMOS Technologies raised its projected spending on new memory chip plants this year, to between $1.5 billion and $1.6 billion, in a bid to keep up with rivals in Taiwan. March 29, 6:45 a.m. PST Samsung sees DRAM prices falling, NAND flash rising Users looking for bargains in DRAM (dynamic RAM) for their PCs or laptops might see bargain prices within the next few weeks, but anyone looking for new USB (universal serial bus) flash memory sticks, iPods, or memory cards for digital cameras and other devices should think about buying soon. March 27, 5:33 a.m. PST Hynix, SanDisk announce patent pact, joint venture Hynix Semiconductor and SanDisk have reached a patent cross-license agreement and will jointly manufacture and sell NAND flash memory in addition to developing four-bit-per-cell flash memory, the companies said Wednesday. March 21, 7:20 a.m. PST In Brief: Micron opens first chip plant in China Micron Technology, one of the world's largest memory chip makers, opened its first chip factory in China on Tuesday, the company said in a statement. The Xi'an, China, factory will be used to test and package DRAM (dynamic RAM), NAND flash memory and image sensors. March 21, 5:22 a.m. PST Toshiba, Hynix sign flash licensing pact Hynix Semiconductor and Toshiba have agreed to share licenses for using one another's semiconductor patents, putting an end to several lawsuits, Hynix said Tuesday. March 20, 7:53 a.m. PST Inotera plans $6B in new chip plant spending Inotera Memories plans to build two advanced memory chip factories in northern Taiwan in an investment estimated at more than NT$200 billion, (US$6 billion), the company confirmed Tuesday. March 20, 5:38 a.m. PST FTC stays part of Rambus case A U.S. agency has modified its own ruling, freeing Rambus to collect royalties for past uses of its memory chip technology despite charges that the company holds a monopoly in the industry, the company said Monday. March 19, 2:52 p.m. PST Fujitsu offers flash-based notebooks Fujitsu Computer Systems is fortifying two models in its notebook line by offering the option of solid state drives for rugged applications like health care and aviation, the company said Monday. March 19, 8:12 a.m. PST Asustek ships water-cooled graphics card Taiwanese hardware maker Asustek Computer has begun shipping a water-cooled graphics card that can help lower a PC's internal temperature, while improving graphics performance. March 15, 7:07 a.m. PST Intel stomps into flash memory Intel threw down a gantlet today by entering the solid-state drive market with its first NAND flash memory product. The Intel Z-U130 Value Solid-State Drive represents a challenge to Samsung Corp., which is the world's largest producer of NAND flash memory for hardware and gadgets such as USB flash drives. March 12, 3:13 p.m. PST Qimonda invests $525M on chip facilities in Asia Qimonda, one of the world's largest DRAM (dynamic RAM) chip makers, plans to invest €400 million ($525.3 million) on two chip factories in Asia, the company said Thursday. March 8, 5:08 a.m. PST Samsung ships its first hybrid disk drive Samsung Electronics has begun shipping its first hybrid hard-disk drives that mix conventional magnetic storage with flash memory, it said Wednesday. March 7, 4:39 a.m. PST Toshiba hastens NAND production Toshiba Corp. is expanding production of NAND flash memory chips faster than originally planned, the company said Monday. March 4, 6:42 p.m. PST Intel invests in Taiwanese chip packager The investment arm of chip maker Intel said Thursday it agreed to invest $65 million in Powertech Technology, a Taiwanese chip assembler that specializes in flash memory and DRAM (dynamic RAM). March 1, 5:32 a.m. PST Samsung speeds up GDDR4 graphics memory Samsung Electronics is using a more advanced production method to push graphics memory chips to a higher speed. February 23, 4:12 a.m. PST 12 crackpot tech ideas that could transform the enterprise Technologies that push the envelope of the plausible capture our curiosity almost as quickly as the would-be crackpots who dare to concoct them become targets of our derision. February 19, 3:00 a.m. PST IBM to double performance of its chips In an upgrade that could improve chip performance for gamers and multimedia users, IBM plans to double the performance of its microprocessors in 2008 by using smaller, more efficient memory, according to a paper presented at the ISSCC (International Solid State Circuits Conference) trade show in San Francisco Wednesday. February 14, 4:15 a.m. PST Hynix denies move to China South Korean memory chip giant Hynix Semiconductor on Wednesday denied local media reports that it planned to move its operations to China. February 7, 4:53 a.m. PST Samsung to pay $90 million in DRAM case Samsung Electronics, the world's largest DRAM (dynamic RAM) maker, agreed to pay $90 million in a DRAM price fixing suit raised by a group of U.S. state governments, the first company named in the suit to reach such an accord. February 7, 4:26 a.m. PST High tech’s consumer envy If anything convinced me that the 20th century ethic of high-tech companies being technology-driven is over, it was a panel discussion held during the recent DEMO 2007 conference. If you’re the type who mocks the marketing guys and prefers to hear from the tech guys, you’re making a big mistake. Like it or not, in the 21st century the marketing guys will rule the roost. February 6, 3:00 a.m. PST Update: FTC forces Rambus to license memory chips U.S. government regulators will require Rambus to license its DRAM (dynamic RAM) chips to other vendors, and will cap the royalty fees Rambus can charge to both current and future DRAM manufacturers, according to an announcement Monday by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). February 5, 9:26 a.m. PST European chip sales grew slower than in rest of world Semiconductor sales in Europe last year grew more slowly than the worldwide average, dragged down by slow growth in microprocessors in the region, according to a report from the European Semiconductor Industry Association. February 2, 6:17 a.m. PST Hynix rises to second place in DRAM market Samsung Electronics held onto its title as the world's largest producer of DRAM memory chips in 2006 despite a late charge by Hynix Semiconductor, according to a study released Thursday. February 1, 11:51 a.m. PST ProMOS rises to meet Vista-fueled demand for DRAM ProMOS Technologies may raise its capital spending plans for 2007 to meet brisk demand for DRAM (dynamic RAM) chips caused by the launch of Microsoft's new Windows Vista OS. February 1, 4:33 a.m. PST Toshiba preps 2GB NAND flash memory chips Toshiba will begin selling in April NAND flash memory chips capable of holding up to 2GB of data, the company said Wednesday. January 24, 4:44 a.m. PST Renesas, Powerchip form memory chip venture Japan's Renesas Technology and Taiwan's Powerchip Semiconductor will launch a memory-chip design joint venture in February, they said Tuesday. January 16, 7:38 a.m. PST Intel selling Israeli flash fab Sources at Intel Israel claim that the company's Fab 8 facility in Jerusalem is to be closed down and that its flash memory operations -- including the Fab 18 facility in Kiryat Gat -- are going to be sold. January 16, 6:33 a.m. PST Samsung to launch ultramobile PC with flash memory Samsung Electronics will launch the latest addition to its family of ultramobile PCs on Monday, a device that uses a 32GB solid-state flash memory-based hard drive (SSD) to store data instead of a conventional hard disc drive (HDD). January 8, 4:55 a.m. PST Disk-makers join to push flash-embedded drives The five largest manufacturers of hard-disk drives will work together to promote a new technology that promises to improve system performance, the companies said Thursday. January 4, 6:03 a.m. PST SanDisk releases 32GB drive for notebooks SanDisk has launched a 32GB solid-state drive using flash memory chips, intended as a replacement for conventional hard disk drives. January 4, 5:35 a.m. PST Taiwan allows three chip investments to China The Taiwan government gave a formal stamp of approval on three major China-bound chip investments on Wednesday. December 27, 1:35 p.m. PST Taiwan IT production largely unaffected by big quake A pair of powerful earthquakes near Taiwan caused some factories to temporarily halt operations for safety reasons, but mostly left the island's IT production unscathed, companies said Wednesday. December 27, 1:11 p.m. PST Elpida begins mass production of 70nm DRAM Japanese memory-chip maker Elpida Memory Inc. Monday began mass production of memory chips using a 70-nanometer production process, which offers to further reduce costs and improve performance. December 26, 8:08 a.m. PST Samsung exec pleads guilty to DRAM price fixing A top executive from Samsung Electronics will serve 10 months in prison and pay a $250,000 fine for his role in a global conspiracy to fix DRAM (dynamic RAM) prices, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday. December 21, 11:28 a.m. PST December's coolest gadgets Nothing's worse than delays when you're waiting for a hot new gadget. Just ask the tens of thousands of people who queued up all night for the PlayStation 3 when it made its global debut here in Japan Nov. 11. The console had originally been due out in the early part of the year but was held up by several problems. Judging by the lack of stock in stores, it's still difficult for people who want one to do so before the end of the year holidays. December 12, 7:23 a.m. PST New type of memory chip may replace flash, HDD Flash memory and hard-disk drives could face a challenge from a new chip technology, dubbed phase-change memory, being developed by a group of companies led by IBM. December 11, 4:07 a.m. PST Elpida, Powerchip to invest $13.9B in DRAM venture Japanese memory chip maker Elpida Memory and Taiwan's Powerchip Semiconductor have announced a broad plan to invest $13.9 billion over five years to build four new DRAM factories in Taiwan. December 7, 6:41 a.m. PST 2006: The year in PCs and chips Vendors in the PC and chip industries moved boldly in 2006, changing the marketplace map through mergers, recalls, layoffs and lawsuits. Oh, and they launched some impressive new products too, keeping Moore's Law moving as they built smaller, faster chips and cooler, more efficient computers. Here, in chronological order, we share a sampling of the biggest events of the past 12 months. December 5, 1:57 p.m. PST AMD, Hynix leap into Top 10 chip rankings Advanced Micro Devices and Hynix Semiconductor have made it into the Top 10 ranking of semiconductor companies for the first time, according to preliminary forecasts for 2006 revenue from research company iSuppli. December 5, 5:24 a.m. PST Toshiba to ship 8GB high-speed SD card Toshiba plans to start selling in January next year an 8GB high-speed SD (Secure Digital) memory card, it said Monday. November 20, 4:49 a.m. PST BenQ weighs on Infineon's earnings Additional charges related to the spin-off of its memory chip unit and bankruptcy of a large mobile phone customer have widened the fourth-quarter loss at German chip maker Infineon Technologies. November 16, 9:41 a.m. PST Taiwan firms get nod for Chinese factories The Taiwanese government plans to soon give permission for ProMos Technologies and Powerchip Semiconductor to build chip manufacturing plants in China, a U.S. business group said this week, welcoming the move. November 16, 7:53 a.m. PST DRAM demand to remain strong in 2007 Demand for DRAM (dynamic RAM) will remain strong into next year, thanks to the introduction of Microsoft's Vista operating system and Sony Computer Entertainment's PlayStation 3 game console, a Samsung Electronics executive said Monday. November 13, 5:09 a.m. PST Samsung: DDR3 will be mainstream by early 2009 Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory maker, expects DDR3 (double data rate, third-generation) memory chips to eclipse DDR2 (second generation) as the mainstream DRAM technology for PCs by early 2009, a senior executive said Monday. November 13, 4:32 a.m. PST Intel ships new NOR flash chips for cell phones Intel has begun volume shipments of a new, denser NOR flash memory chip that is designed to be used in cell phones, the company said Wednesday. November 8, 6:04 a.m. PST Intel, Micron to build memory plant in Singapore Intel and Micron Technology plan to construct a factory in Singapore to produce NAND flash memory, the two partners announced Monday. November 7, 6:43 a.m. PST Global chip sales hit record high in September Global chip sales leaped to a record high of $21.37 billion in September, boosted by demand for mobile phones, digital music players, and PCs, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said Thursday. November 3, 7:19 a.m. PST EU raids Samsung's Germany office Samsung Semiconductor Europe is one of several chip companies in Germany raided by the European Commission as part of an investigation into price fixing. November 1, 9:59 a.m. PST Does saving computing power save money? The green computing movement has gotten some traction; I’m glad. That was one of my earliest campaigns, a cause I fought before I had a voice. And until a few years ago, I was frustrated that others were overlooking the obvious: Corporations don’t need to become champions of the environment to push for cooler, quieter, more efficient electrical equipment. I’ve said that they just have to look at their monthly electric bill. That was naïve; how can a business tell what portion of its electric bill goes to computing and storage? There must be a way to figure out whether there really is a cost savings. November 1, 3:00 a.m. PST SMIC's bid for profitability falls short Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), China's largest chip maker, reported a loss of $35.1 million for the third quarter, falling far short of an earlier pledge by its top executive that the company would turn a profit in the period. October 31, 8:45 a.m. PST US Dept. of Justice probes Sony SRAM sales The U.S. Department of Justice probe into the SRAM (static RAM) chip market appears to be widening.] October 31, 4:48 a.m. PST Redefining innovation Innovative ideas are a dime a dozen, according to Jim Andrew, senior partner at big-time consultancy BCG. In fact, at most companies, coming up with great concepts for a product, service, or process isn’t even an issue. But turning those ideas into money … ah, there’s the rub. October 30, 3:00 a.m. PST Rambus sees opportunity in Intel/AMD fight Rambus sees the microprocessor market share war between Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) as a possible way to win more orders from the PC industry, according to the company's chief executive officer. October 26, 5:14 a.m. PDT Rambus expects $200M hit from stock-options charges Memory chip technology vendor Rambus expects to take a $200 million charge to earnings for stock-option backdating. October 20, 4:11 a.m. PDT > Hardware |
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