Japan’s Toshiba Corp is teaming up with US chip giant SanDisk Corp to produce a “3D” memory chip they hope will allow users to save up to 50 hours of ultra-high-definition video.
In a deal worth a reported ¥500 billion (US$4.84 billion) the companies are to build a factory to make flash memory consisting of several layers of semiconductors stacked together to give as much as a terabyte — 1,000 gigabytes — of storage.
That is about 16 times bigger than the largest 64-gigabyte Toshiba memory currently available in smartphones and tablet devices.
Toshiba will demolish its existing plant in Japan to build a new facility that will house production apparatus using technologies from both firms and which the firms hope will start operating in 2016, a statement said.
“In about five years [from the planned start of the factory], we would like to produce one-terabyte products,” a Toshiba spokeswoman said.
The plan comes at a time of increasing competition among the world’s technology firms to meet demand for ever-higher capacity memory chips for consumers increasingly using mobile devices such as smart phones, tablet computers and wearable gadgets.
The spread of high-definition video, with so-called 4K-resolution screens at the leading edge, is boosting demand for computing memory to store content.
“Small, high-capacity memories can of course be applied to smartphones, but they could also be used for wearable devices,” the Toshiba spokeswoman said.
Manufacturers have traditionally competed with regular chips by trying to make the physical object smaller.
Toshiba, along with major rivals such as Samsung, believe they are reaching the physical limit, and are shifting toward 3D memories, where layering — effectively a third dimension — is used to boost the capacity of objects the same size.
“Our determination to develop advanced technologies underlines our commitment to respond to continued demand [for] flash memory,” Toshiba senior vice president Yasuo Naruke said in a statement
SanDisk president and chief executive Sanjay Mehrotra said the plant “will advance our leadership in memory technology into the 3D ... era.”
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure