Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), the nation’s second-largest computer memory chipmaker, said yesterday it had agreed to Qimonda AG’s plan to sell its holdings in Inotera Memories Inc (華亞科技), a joint venture with Nanya, to Micron Technology Inc in a move that will strengthen its technological partnership with the US chipmaker.
Micron Technology, the world’s fourth-largest memory chipmaker, said it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Qimonda’s 35.6 percent stake in Inotera, located in Taoyuan, for US$400 million in cash which would expand its partnership with Nanya, a company statement on Micron’s Web site said.
That puts an end to months of speculation about the fate of Inotera after Nanya turned to Micron, which belongs to a different technological camp to Qimonda, for technological support in March. Nanya, which also holds a 35.6 stake in Inotera, had priority status to buy the stake owned by Qimonda.
Munich-based Qimonda said yesterday that the sale of its Inotera stake would be a key step in a restructuring plan designed to cope with the severe industry downturn.
Shares in Inotera yesterday rallied to almost the 7 percent daily limit at NT$9.4, recovering from losses in early trading. Meanwhile, Nanya shares fell by the newly implemented 3.5 percent daily downward limit.
“We believe the deal [between Micron and Qimonda] will help Nanya obtain stronger technological support,” Nanya spokesman Pai Pei-lin (白培霖) said by telephone.
Early this year, Nanya formed a new venture with Micron in Taoyuan to make dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips at a 12-inch fab using Micron’s technology.
“The deal will help ease the oversupply of DRAM chips in the short term, as output from Inotera will be reduced while it adjusts to making chips using technology from Micron,” said Rick Hsu (徐稦成), a senior research analyst at Nomura Securities Co Ltd’s Taipei branch.
A supply glut has caused a 38 percent decline in DRAM prices in the third quarter after prices dived 85 percent last year, Taipei-based market researcher DRAMeXchange Technology Inc (集邦科技) figures showed.
Inotera may see a decline in sales because of falling output before it benefits from a rise in combined market share with Micron, Hsu said.
Micron expects to complete the first stage of the purchase, during which it plans to buy 18 percent of Inotera for US$200 million in cash, within a week, the statement said.
The company will proceed with the second stage of purchase to complete the deal after receiving approval from the regulators, the statement said.
To help fund the purchase, Micron has obtained US$285 million in loan financing commitments from strategic sources at favorable terms, the company said.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”