Electronic components supplier Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) yesterday said that its board of directors has approved the sale of its solid state drives (SSD) business to Toshiba Memory Holdings Corp for US$165 million.
Toshiba Memory, which is 40 percent owned by Toshiba Corp, is the world’s second-largest supplier of NAND flash memory chips.
SSD is a storage device used in consumer electronics, and enterprise and industrial equipment that is based on semiconductor NAND flash memory that Toshiba developed in 1987.
The transaction includes the operations and assets of Lite-On’s storage unit, with equipment, workers, intellectual property, technology, client and supplier relationships and inventories, Lite-On said.
The transfer needs to be approved and is estimated to be completed by April next year, Lite-On said.
The deal would not have a material effect on its finances and operations, the company said.
Nobuo Hayasaka, acting president and chief executive officer of Toshiba Memory, said in a statement that the acquisition of Lite-On’s SSD business positions it to meet projected growth in demand for SSDs in PCs and data centers, amid increased cloud services.
The Japanese multinational computer manufacturer’s move to acquire Lite-On’s SSD business would expand its sales channels and make use of Lite-On’s partnerships with US PC manufacturers such as Dell Inc, Business Korea reported two weeks ago.
Earlier, the Japan Times reported that Toshiba Memory was to postpone its initial public offering from next month until early next year, as the company’s earnings have been dragged by low demand for NAND flash memory chips amid the US-China trade dispute.
The company’s earnings were also affected by a power cut at its plant in central Japan in June, which resulted in a partial suspension for nearly a week.
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