09/14, 3:05pm
Apple triggers holiday 09 flash shortage
Apple's new iPods and other flash-based devices have sparked an industry-wide shortage in the NAND memory they use, unofficial industry contacts claimed today. Samsung, one of Apple's primary suppliers, is claimed by DigiTimes as having cut its supply of flash memory to Taiwan companies in half. Other companies are faring worse, as Hynix and Toshiba have only promised "limited supply" while Micron has simply said it has no spare supplies at all.
more
07/28, 1:00pm
New iPhone 3GS memory
Two more companies are set to join the ranks supplying memory for the iPhone 3GS, industry sources claim. Hynix's 41nm NAND flash is said to have recently passed 3GS validation, paving the way for future deliveries. Details of a Micron agreement have also allegedly emerged, pointing to volume shipments for Apple beginning in August. Unlike Hynix, Micron has 34nm chips ready to go, the sources say.
more
06/02, 3:55pm
NVIDIA free of Rambus suit
NVIDIA on Tuesday announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has initially rejected 41 patent infringement claims regarding seven patents Rambus has filed against NVIDIA back in July of 2008. NVIDIA challenged these claims in November of 2008, when Rambus filed a complaint in an International Trade Commission (ITC) action. All patent infringement claims from Rambus relate to memory controllers in graphics processors.
more
05/14, 4:05pm
FTC Quits Rambus Case
The US Federal Trade Commission today dropped its antitrust case against memory producer Rambus. The company had previously been found guilty of abusing its monopoly power but successfully won an appeal in 2008; the FTC's decision to quit follows after its own appeal was rejected in February and the government body considered its options. Officials say the departure comes after they decide it would "not be in the public interest" to pursue Rambus further.
more
04/27, 3:20pm
Hynix 1Gb 54nm Mobile RAM
Hynix today revealed that it has produced the first 1-gigabit (256MB) mobile DDR2 memory based on a 54 nanometer manufacturing process. Shrinking the chip design has let the company simultaneously raise its maximum clock speed up to 1,066MHz -- the same as desktop memory -- but also to drastically reduce the power versus earlier mobile RAM. The denser memory consumes about half as much power as earlier mobile DDR2 and just 30 percent that of full-fledged desktop memory.
more
02/17, 10:45pm
iPhone flash memory orders
Apple's preparations for the next-generation iPhone line is constraining worldwide supplies for leading flash memory manufacturers and may increase prices. A new analyst report says that Apple’s (unannounced) refresh of iPhones is putting increased pressure on flash memory manufacturers managing dwindling inventory. According to Cult of Mac, ThinkEquity analyst Vijay Rakesh is telling clients that Apple has begun placing orders for memory for a yet unannounced upgrade to the current iPhone 3G and the rumored "iPhone Nano" or a similar device. Most recently RBC analyst Mark Abramsky claimed that a $99 iPhone would appear later this summer, but that the device would not be a rumored iPhone nano, but instead a pared-down regular iPhone.
more
02/09, 3:20pm
Hynix 1Gb DDR3 RAM Chip
Hynix has joined in launches at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference with what's billed as the world's first 1-gigabit DDR3 RAM chip. The storage is equivalent to about 128MB and was achieved by using a new 44-nanometer manufacturing process that Hynix notes is about 50 percent more efficient than the old 54nm technique it replaces. Power consumption should also go down with the advancement in storage.
more
12/03, 8:45am
Hynix 2Gb Mobile RAM
Hynix on Wednesday boosted its Mobile Memory line and said it has developed the world's first two gigabit (256 megabyte) mobile RAM chip. The use of a smaller 54 nanometer manufacturing process has let the company double its previous best capacity while also improving the performance over past chips. Bandwidth for the outside world has been stepped up to 400 megabits per second, while the chip can process 1.6 gigabytes per second internally.
more
06/03, 11:10am
Hynics Small 32GB Flash
Hynix today unveiled a new upgrade to its flash memory that it hopes will dramatically improve the capacity of portable media players and other flash-bound devices. The company's version of three-bits-per-cell technology lets the company stack data to offer as much as 32 gigabytes of data into a tighter space. Despite the capacity jump, the 32GB chip occupies 30 percent less area than a more typical two-bits-per-cell flash chip, the company says. The space would allow a single chip to hold as many as 8,000 average-size MP3 tracks.
more
03/27, 4:10pm
Rambus Seeks Hynix Ban
Memory producer Rambus today revealed that it will petition for an injunction against industry rival Hynix, barring the latter from shipping RAM that allegedly infringes on Rambus patents. The action was requested after a federal court green-lighted legal efforts against Hynix as well as fellow memory producers Micron and Nanya, saying that the move to enforce patents would not tread on US antitrust laws. Rambus has said it would be willing to license the patents in exchange for royalties for memory sold.
more
03/27, 3:25pm
Hynix and Samsung Bluff
Hynix and Samsung are gaming the market by claiming to have more orders from Apple for high-capacity memory than actually exist, according to accusations made by local rivals. While the two memory makers have reportedly both said they are taking large amounts of orders for the 32 gigabit (4GB) flash memory used in iPhones and iPods, the alleged sources claim that both suppliers are deliberately inflating the amount of memory ordered to artificially raise prices. By creating a perceived shortage, the two memory makers could reportedly take extra profits from other companies ordering at the same time.
more
03/11, 1:20am
Apple Yet to Order Flash
Apple is sending worrying signs that it hasn't ordered any significant amounts of the NAND flash memory it needs, say some of its Asian manufacturers. Although the company bought as much as $1.3 billion in memory over 2007, it hasn't started large orders since 2008 began and is effectively forcing its suppliers to sell flash below cost due to oversupply. Even the MacBook Air, which needs a large 64GB of memory for its solid-state drive, isn't enough to help clear stock due to its high price and low volume, according to the reports.
more
02/25, 9:50am
Hynix 8GB DDR2 RAM
Hynix this morning took a step towards expanding the RAM limits for many computers by targeting an upgrade its DDR2 line at a niche audience. The company has successfully developed an 8GB memory stick that offers registered, double-rank memory for previous-generation AMD Opteron and Intel Xeon-based workstations. Though clocked lower than today's latest memory, the new capacity is reached through controllers that can handle twice as many chips as before: this permits using inexpensive one-gigabit chips stacked together in place of two-gigabit models, according to Hynix.
more
