Confirmed: Micron in talks with Taiwan to create new DRAM 'entity'
A spokesperson for Boise, Idaho-based Micron Technology confirmed to Betanews this morning that it has submitted a proposal to the government of Taiwan to assist that country in the consolidation of its DRAM industry. That proposal, if agreed upon and carried out, would create something being referred to as a "new DRAM entity" that would be launched with an automatic joint research and development agreement with Micron, as well as the license to use some 2,000 patents from the company's portfolio of 17,000.
"Micron has talked a lot about seeing value in the memory industry," spokesperson Dan Francisco told us today. There's certainly value in Taiwan's ability to produce, and that is what Micron is interested in fostering. Negotiations are ongoing, Francisco said, and involve other leading companies in Taiwan's memory industry, though no names are currently being included on that list.
However, Micron already has a significant partnership with Taiwan-based Nanya Technology, he reminded us, in Inotera Memories; and while Nanya may or may not be involved in this latest round of negotiations, he said the business model Micron used in pursuing the Nanya partnership will be put to use in this latest venture.
As part of the proposal, the Micron spokesperson told us, a joint development effort would be established to "root R&D development technology in Taiwan," borrowing the Nanya model. Once that root was established, a partnership would be enabled between the new entity's research and development arm, and that of Micron. Both entities may then, conceivably, jointly develop new products that both Micron and the new entity may produce, leveraging Micron's existing patent portfolio to bring it about.
Francisco declined to comment on what he characterized as press speculation arising from a report in Taiwan's Economic Daily News, that was picked up by Reuters this morning and corrected at least twice. An earlier printing seemed to indicate that Micron itself was bringing $2 billion to the table, though a correction noted that the $2 billion (if that much) would come from other sources of capital. Francisco indicated to us that the Reuters correction was accurate.
"Micron is interested in this effort because it creates a better environment for the industry," stated Francisco, "and give Micron a better opportunity to scale."
Speculation about the source and the purpose of the deal's funding began in January, when the Taiwanese industry daily DigiTimes spread information it had heard from sources that Micron was working with partner Nanya to compete for what was described as bailout money being offered by the Taiwanese government. Micron had no comment on that report either.
Micron's proposal comes at one of the most critical periods in the DRAM industry. A Gartner report released last week states that revenues for the entire industry dropped over 40% last year, as prices for DRAM parts declined by as much as 54% during the year. (A normal and sustainable price decline slope is about 30% per year.) Among the dark spots facing the US side of the industry in recent days has been Qimonda's insolvency filing in January, and the Chapter 11 filing by former AMD spinoff Spansion just yesterday.