SK hynix and Intel today announced that SK hynix will acquire Intel’s NAND flash business for $9 billion. SK hynix gets Intel’s business, its manufacturing plant with two fabs in Dalian, China, and all of Intel’s designs and intellectual property. The Memory Guy thinks this is a pretty good deal all around.
Intel doesn’t do well in Continue reading “SK hynix Acquires Intel’s NAND Business”
In this post contributor Ron Neale shares a close look at the new memory announced today by Arm spin-off Cerfe Labs. He provides insight into the operation and composition of this technology which originated at Symetrix, a company that has previously developed FRAM technologies licensed to major semiconductor and capacitor manufacturers.
While many companies seek to offer a nonvolatile (NV) alternative to Flash, with varying degrees of success, something new called a correlated electron memory (CeRAM) has entered Continue reading “CeRAM Moves Front and Center on the NV Memory Stage”
Micron Technology hosted its earnings call on September 29, and its outlook wasn’t as bad as formerly expected.
In August the company’s CFO warned that, although Micron’s fourth fiscal quarter (its current quarter, running from June – August) would come close to the guided figures, there was reason to Continue reading “Micron Earnings: Not So Bad After All”
Our PCM maven Ron Neale explored how PCM is being used to benefit Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) applications. Although AI is a new spin to The Memory Guy blog, there is a striking similarity between memory chips and certain AI applications, most particularly Neural Networks.
In this post Ron delves into a recent piece of IBM research published in Nature Electronics, that uses Hyperdimensional Computing algorithms to Continue reading “IBM Put PCM at the Core of Hyperdimensional Computing (HDC)”
During Intel’s latest earnings announcement the company provided information to indicate that 3D XPoint, which Intel sells under the name “Optane”, may have finally reached break-even: It may no longer be selling at a loss.
How would The Memory Guy know? Well, in fact, I don’t, but I can make an informed guess.
The chart below shows Continue reading “Did 3D XPoint Costs Reach Break-Even?”
In a little 3-minute video released this week for the SEMICON West conference, Applied Materials dramatizes the 3D NAND manufacturing process by using hailstorms for atomic level deposition (ALD) and lightning bolts for etch, all while explaining that the wafer’s surface reaches temperatures hotter than the surface of the sun.
For those who already understand 3D NAND manufacture it’s an interesting Continue reading “Applied Materials Video Dramatizes 3D NAND Manufacture”
Perhaps the oldest nonvolatile semiconductor memory type is the ferroelectric memory, which recently celebrated its 68th birthday. FRAM predates flash memory, EEPROM, and even UV-erasable EPROM. It’s even older than mask ROM, which wasn’t invented until 1967!
As a matter of introduction to the technology, FRAM, or ferroelectric memory, is a read/write nonvolatile memory technology that performs significantly better than Continue reading “FRAM Turns 68”
In a May 15 press release SIA president & CEO John Neuffer said something that definitely bears repeating.
His statement was the Semiconductor Industry Association’s response to new US Department of Commerce rule changes designed to stop: “Huawei’s efforts to undermine US export controls.”
Recall that the SIA is the Continue reading “SIA CEO’s Priceless Comment”
The Memory Guy is pleased to announce the release of a new report co-authored by Objective Analysis and Coughlin Associates named: Emerging Memories Find Their Direction. In this report we show that emerging memories, MRAM, ReRAM, 3D XPoint, and other technologies are well on their way to reach $36 billion of combined revenues by 2030.
The report provides invaluable guidance to Continue reading “Emerging Memory Market to Hit $36 Billion by 2030”
A couple of weeks ago NAND flash start-up YMTC announced the production release of its 128-layer 1.33 terabit QLC NAND flash chip. According to a DigiTimes article about the chip the company plans to claim a share of 8% of the global NAND flash market in 2021.
A number of my clients asked The Memory Guy about this, since YMTC doesn’t yet seem Continue reading “Can YMTC Really Win 8% of 2021’s NAND Flash Market?”
