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Computer Memory: Important Trends and Directions
BCC Research - 1/1/2003 - 426 Pages - ID: WA854962
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Summary
Summary Table: Worldwide Market For Semiconductor Memory, Through 2007 ($ Millions)
Summary Figure: Worldwide Market For Semiconductor Memory, 1999-2007 ($ Millions)

Industry Overview
Computer Memory Market Definition
Importance Of Memory In The Electronics Industry
Table 1. Dimensions Of Rotating Memory And Nonrotating Memory
Bandwidth
Table 2. Specifications Of Rotating Memory And Nonrotating, Nonvolatile Memory
Power Consumption
Power Consumption (Continued)
Displacement Of Rotating Media With Memory Chip Products
Table 3. Worldwide Nonsemiconductor Computer Memory (Storage) Market, 2001 (Non-Chip Memory Markets, Millions Of Units)
Worldwide Semiconductor Memory Market Overview
Table 4. Worldwide Average Selling Price Of Different Memory Chips, 1999-2007 (128-Mbit Equivalents; In $)
Table 5. Worldiwde Memory Chip Prices For Different Memory Types, 2001 (Price Per Megabit, In $)
Table 6. Worlwide Unit Shipments By Memory Chip Type, Through 2007 (128-Mbit Equivalents)
Table 7. Worldwide Memory Revenue By Memory Chip Type, Through 2007 ($ Millions)
Computer Memory Product Market Subsegments
Computer Memory Product Market Subsegments (Continued)
Computer Memory Product Market Subsegments (Continued)
Table 8. Worlwide Memory Cellular Phone Applications By Memory Chip Type, Trough 2007 (Millions Of 128-Mbit Equivalents)

Computer Memory Product Market Subsegments (Continued)
Table 9. Worldwide Memory Chip Unit Sales For Pc Main Memory, By Memory Chip Type, Through 2007 (Millions Of 128-Mbit Equivalents)
Computer Memory Product Market Subsegments (Continued)
Table 10. Memory Chip Products By Type And Density
Computer Memory Product Market Subsegments (Continued)
Regional And Company Overview
Table 11. Memory Production Revenue By Regional Base, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 12. Worldwide Memory Chip Sales By Company, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 12. (Continued)
Regional And Company Overview (Continued)
Regional And Company Overview (Continued)
Terminology
Table 13. Computer Memory Terminology
Table 13. (Continued)
History Of The Computer Memory Chip Market
History Of The Computer Memory Chip Market (Continued)
Historical Acqusitions, Mergers And Joint Ventures
Historical Acqusitions, Mergers And Joint Ventures (Continued)
Table 14. Summary Of Acquisitons By Memory Companies, 1995-2001
Future Influences On The Computer Memory Market

Industry Structure
Worldwide Computer Memory Industry Structure
Table 15. Computer Memory Companies By Primary Product Category
Types Of Memory Chip Companies
Table 16. Memory Semiconductor Companies By Tier-Market Segment
End-User Markets Of Computer Memory
Table 17. Primary End-Product Markets For Computer Memory Chips
Table 18. Pc Customer Base By Region
Table 19. Worldwide Memory Card/Module Revenue, 2000 ($ Millions)
Table 20. Japan's Secure Data (Sd) Card Production By Site, 2000 (Units Per Month)
Government Regulations
Influences On Sales
Influences On Prices
Computer Memory: Silicon Area And Price
Table 21. Silicon Area For Different Types Of Memory Chips
Memory Chip Electrical Specifications
Table 22. Electrical Specifications Of Memory Chips
Product Distribution Channels
Table 23. Distributors Of Memory Chips
International
Table 24. Memory Consumption By Geographic Region, Through 2007 ($ Millions)
Table 25. Memory Chip Company Sales By Region, 2001 (Percent Of Total Company Sales)
Table 26. U.S. Exports Of Memory By Product Type, 2001 (Million Units, $ Millions)
Table 27. U.S. Imports Of Memory By Product Type, 2001 (Million Units, $ Millions)
Table 27. (Continued)
Table 28. Korean Memory Exports By Type, Second Quarter 2002 ($ Millions)
Dram Memory Consumption By Region
Table 29. Dram Consumption By Geographic Region, 1999 Through 2007 ($ Millions)
Table 30. Korean Exports Of Drams To The U.S., 2001 (Million Units, $ Millions)
Table 31. Korean Dram Exports By Product Type, 2000-2002 (Millions Of Units)
Table 32. Korean Dram Exports By Product Type (Percent Of Total Korean Dram Export Sales)
Table 33. Micron Technology's Total Product Revenue By Region, 1999-2001* ($ Millions)
Dram Memory Consumption By Region (Continued)
Table 34. U.S. Exports Of Drams By Country, 2001
Flash And Eeprom Consumption By Region
Table 35. Flash Consumption By Geographic Region, Through 2007 ($ Millions)
Table 36. Nonvolatile Memory Exports From The U.S., 2001
Table 37. U.S. Imports Of Eeproms, By Country, 2001 (> 900 Kbits)
Table 38. U.S. Exports/Imports, Eeproms, 2001
High Growth End Market Production Regions
High Growth End Market Production Regions (Continued)
Table 39. Computer Equipment Imports Into The U.S., By Country, 1998-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 40. China's Pc Companies And Production, 2000-2002 (Millions Of Units)
Table 41. China's Cellular Phone Companies And Production, 2000-2002 (Millions Of Units)
Table 42. Nokia Revenue From China, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
International Considerations For Other Types Of Memory

Manufacturing And Techology
Figure 1. Transistor Size And Feature Length
Figure 2. Formula For Silicon Area As A Function Of Feature Length
Table 43. Flash Process Technology Feature Length, By Year, 1986-2002
Memory Cell Size And Feature Length
Table 44. Memory Cell Sizes In Terms Of Scale Factor S
Wafer Production Capacity, Costs And Yield
Table 45. Silicon Surface Area For Different Size Wafers (Yield Of 75%)
Figure 3. Wafer Edge Loss
Table 46. Wafer Fabrication Facility Costs (200 Mm)
Table 47. Feature Length Manufacturing Capacity, By Company, 2002

Worldwide Nonvolatile Memory Market
Nonvolatile Memory Product Technology
Table 48. Nonvolatile Memory Chip Specifications
Nonvolatile Memory Product Technology
Table 49. Nonvolatile Market Revenue By Company, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 49. (Continued)
Flash Market Overview
Flash Market Shipments
Table 50. Worldwide Flash Shipments, Revenue And Asp, Through 2007
Flash Product Market Segments
Table 51. Worldwide Flash Sales By Type, Through 2007 ($ Millions)
The Nor Flash Market
Table 52. Nor Flash Revenue By Company, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
The Nor Flash Market (Continued)
The Nand Flash Market
Table 53. Applications Of Nand Flash By Market, 2001 (Percent Of Revenue)
Table 54. Nand/And Flash Revenue By Company, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 55. Nand/And Flash Shipments By Company, 1999-2001 (Millions Of 128-Mbit Equivalents)
Figure 4. Sandisk Annual Revenue, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 56. Sony Memory Stick Shipments By Application, 1999-2002 (Millions Of Units)
Nand/And Product Specifications
Flash Market Demand By Application
Table 57. Flash Demand Model, By Application, Through 2007 (128-Mbit Equivalents, Millions Of Units)
The Cellular Phone Market
The Cellular Phone Market (Continued)
Figure 5. Cellular Phone Design
Table 58. Cellular Flash Customer Base By Region
Flash Card Market
Pda Market
Table 59. Pda And Handheld Pc Companies By Region
Table 60. Palm Inc. Annual Revenue By Year, 1997-2001 ($ Millions)
Digital Camera Market
Figure 6. Digital Camera Flash Design
Table 61. Digital Camera Companies By Region
The Set-Top Market
The Set-Top Market (Continued)
Table 62. Set-Top Companies By Region
Flash Bios Market
Flash Bios Market (Continued)
Table 63. Silicon Storage Technology Sales, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 64. Silicon Storage Technology Flash Chip Prices, 2002 (For Purchase Orders Of 100,000 Units)
Dvd Market
Table 65. Dvd Companies By Region
Gps Market
Internet Phone Market
Internet Audio Player Market
Table 66. Internet And Audio Player Companies
The Automotive Market
Other Markets
Flash Product Shipments By Application And Company
Table 67. Nor Flash Shipments By Application And Company, 2001 (Units, Millions Of 128 Kbit Equivalents)
Flash Product Shipments By Application And Company (Continued)
Table 68. Nor Flash Shipments By Application And Company, 2000 (Units, Millions Of 128 Kbit Equivalents)
Table 69. Flash Shipments By Application And Company, 1999 (Units, Millions Of 128 Kbit Equivalents)
Flash Product Shipments By Application And Company (Continued)
Flash Product Shipments By Application And Company (Continued)
Table 70. Flash Customer Base, By Company
Table 71. Atmel Customer Base By Customer
Nor Flash Shipments By Company And Product Type
Table 72. 128-Mbit Nor Flash Equilvalent Shipments By Company (Millions Of 128-Mbit Equivalent Units)
Table 72. (Continued)
Table 73. Nor Flash Shipments By Product Type And Company, 2001 (Millions Of Units)
Table 73. (Continued)
Nor Flash Shipments By Company And Product Type (Continued)
Nor Flash Shipments By Company And Product Type (Continued)
Table 74. Flash Shipments By Product Type And Company, 2000 (Millions Of Units)
Table 74. (Continued)
Flash Pricing And The Market
Table 75. Nand Flash Chip Pricing, 1999-2002 ($ Per Chip)
Table 76. Nor Flash Chip Pricing, 1998-2002 ($ Per Chip; Quantity Of 10k+)
Other Flash Companies
Table 77. Other Flash Companies
Table 77. (Continued)
Flash Design And Manufacturing Technology
Table 78. Flash Cell Size Versus Feature Length
Flash Design And Manufacturing Technology
Flash Production Capacity Calculations
Table 79. Flash Die Size, Process Technology, And Die Per Wafer
Flash Production Capacity Calculations (Continued)
Table 80. Gbits And Revenue Per Wafer By Type And Feature Length, 2001 (75% Yield, 200-Mm Wafer Size)
Worldwide Nor Flash Wafer Production Capacity
Worldwide Nor Flash Wafer Production Capacity (Continued)
Worldwide Nor Flash Wafer Production Capacity (Continued)
Table 81. Nor Flash Wafer Production Capacity By Company, 1999-2002 (Thousands Of 8-Inch Wafers)
300-Mm Flash Wafer Production Capacity
Table 82. 300-Mm Flash Memory Wafer Fabrication Capacity, 1998-2002 (Thousands Of 12 Inch Wafers)
Regional Flash Production Analysis
Table 83. Worldwide Total Nand/Nor Flash Production Capacity, By Region, Through 2007 (Thousands Of 8-Inch Wafer Equivalents)
Taiwan
Table 84. Taiwan Flash Wafer Fabrication Capacity, 1998-2002 (Thousands Of 8-Inch Equivalent Wafers)
Taiwan (Continued)
Taiwan (Continued)
Figure 7. Macronix Flash Sales By Month, 2001 ($ Millions)
Taiwan (Continued)
China
Table 85. China's Flash Wafer Fabrication Capacity, 1998-2002 (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafer Equivalents)
Singapore And Malaysia
Table 86. Singapore/Malaysia Flash Wafer Fabrication Capacity, 1999-2002 (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafers)
Japan
Table 87. Japan's Wafer Fabrication Capacity, 1999-2002 (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafers)
Japan (Continued)
Korea
Table 88. Korea's Flash Wafer Fabrication Capacity, 1998-2002 (Thousands Of 8-Inch Wafer Equivalents)
Europe And The Middle East
Table 89. Europe's Flash Wafer Fabrication Capacity, 1999-2002 (Thousands Of 8-Inch Wafer Equivalents)
Table 90. Stmicroelectronics Process Road Map, 1998-2002
North America
Intel Flash Manufacturing Capacity
Intel Flash Manufacturing Capacity (Continued)
Table 91. North American 200-Mm Flash Wafer Production Capacity, 1998-2002 (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafers)
Flash Supply Contracts
Table 92. Sharp Flash Supplier Production, 2001-2002 (Millions Of 128-Mbit Equivalents)
Table 93. Flash And Embedded Flash Contract Foundry Suppliers
Figure 8. Tower Semiconductor Supply Chain
Figure 9. The Smic Supply Chain
Figure 10. The Sharp Supply Chain
Figure 11. The Sst Supply Chain
Figure 12. The Mitsubishi Supply Chain
Table 94. Major Flash Technology And Manufacturing Agreements
Ferroelectric Memory Market
Feram Market Size And Developments
Feram Market Size And Developments (Continued)
Table 95. Worldwide Ferroelectric Market Product Shipments, 2000-2007 (Millions Of Units)
Table 96. Ramtron Feram Product Revenue, 1996-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 97. Ferroelectric Companies And Organizations
Ferroelectric Production Capacity
Table 98. Feram Production Levels Of Selected Manufacturers, 1999-2002 (Millions Of 128 Kbit Equivalents)
Ferroelectric Production Capacity (Continued)
Ferroelectric Applications
Table 99. Applications For Ramtron's Products
Ferroelectric Manufacturing Technology
Table 100. Ferroelectric Cell Size Versus Feature Length
Table 101. Ferroelectric Electrical Specifications
Ferroelectric Pricing
Table 102. Ferroelectric Memory Product Pricing ($)
Ferroelectric License And Development Agreements
Ramtron Licenses
Table 103. Ramtron Ferroelectric License Partners
Ramtron Licenses (Continued)
Ramtron Customer History
Table 104. Ramtron's Top Customers, 2000-2001
Symetrix Licensees
Texas Instruments
Mram Memory Market
Mram Technology
Table 105. 256-Kbit Mram Specifications
Mram Development And Commericalization Companies
Table 106. Companies With Mram Development Efforts, 2002
Production Capacity And Developments
Rom Memory Market
Table 107. Rom Revenue By Company, 1999-2001
Rom Product Analysis
Table 108. Rom Product Types By Storage Density
Rom Production
Eprom Memory Market
Memory Chip Company Sales By Region
Eprom Companies
Table 109. Eprom Revenue By Company, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
Eprom Embedded Technology
Eprom And Related Process Technologies
Eprom Applications
Table 110. Eprom Applications
Eprom Products
Table 111. Eprom Products By Storage Density
Eeprom Memory Market
Table 112. U.S. Imports Of Eeproms, 2001
Table 113. Serial Eeproms By Company And Product Type
Table 114. Parallel Eeprom Products By Density
Eeprom Market
Table 115. Eeprom Revenue By Company, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
Eeprom Applications
Table 116. Serial And Parallel Eeprom Applications
Eeprom Applications (Continued)
Table 117. Eeprom Foundries

Worldwide Volatile Memory Market
Table 118. Volatile Memory Market Revenue By Company, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 118. (Continued)
Worldwide Dram Market
Table 119. Dram Market Revenue, Shipments And Asp, Through 2007
Table 120. Worldwide Dram Shipments By Storage Density Capacity, 1999-2001 (Millions Of Units)
Table 121. U.S. Imports Of Drams, 2001
Major Dram End Markets
Major Dram End Markets (Continued)
Table 122. Average Dram Megabytes Per Pc System Shipped, 1999-2002
Table 123. Worldwide Dram Revenue From The Pc Market, Through 2007 ($ Millions)
Major Dram End Markets (Continued)
Table 124. Megabytes Of Main Memory Dram Shipped With Desktop Computers, By Manufacturer, June 2001 (Out Of 454 Models Surveyed)
Secondary Dram End Markets
Table 125. Dram Demand By End Market Segment, Through 2007 (Millions Of 128-Mbit Equivalents)
Graphics Memory Market
Graphics Memory Market (Continued)
Table 126. Worldwide Video Game Dram Shipments, Through 2007 (Millions Of Units)
Figure 13. Graphics And Motherboard Memory
Pda/Handheld Computer Market
Pda/Handheld Computer Market (Continued)
Table 127. Worldwide Dram Shipments To The Pda Market, Through 2007 (Millions Of Units)
Dram Memory Card Market
Laser And Ink Jet Printer Markets
Disk Arrays
The Network Server And Router Market
The Workstation Market
The Automatic Test Equipment Market
Dram Aftermarket
The Set-Top Box Market
Other Markets
Dram Average Selling Price And The Marketplace
Figure 14. Worldwide 128-Mbit Dram Pricing, April 2000-March 2002 ($ Per Unit)
Figure 15. Promos Sales By Month, Jan. 2001-Jan. 2002 ($ Millions)
Figure 15. (Continued)
Table 128. Worldwide Dram Asp By Storage Density Capacity, 1999-2007 ($)
Table 129. Korean Dram Asp By Product Type, Jan. 2001-Apr. 2002 ($)
Table 130. U.S. Drams Imports And Exports, 2001
Table 131. Asp Of Drams By Product Type, 2001
Dram Market Shares By Region And Company
Dram Market Shares By Region And…(Continued)
Table 132. Dram Market Revenue By Regional Origin, Through 2007 ($ Millions)
Table 133. Dram Revenue By Company, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
Dram Shipments By Product Type And Company
Table 134. Dram Shipments By Company, 1999-2001 (128-Mbit Equivalents)
Table 134. (Continued)
Table 135. Dram Shipments By Storage Density And Company, 2001 (Millions Of Units)
Table 136. Dram Shipments By Storage Density And Company, 2000 (Millions Of Units)
Table 137. Dram Shipments By Storage Density And Company, 1999 (Millions Of Units)
Table 137. (Continued)
Dram Shipments By Application
Table 138. Dram Shipments By Application, 2001 (Millions Of 128-Mbit Equivalents)
Table 139. Dram Shipments By Application, 2000 (Millions Of 128-Mbit Equivalents)
Dram Shipments By Application (Continued)
Table 140. Dram Customer Base By Company
Table 141. Infineon's Top Customers
Table 142 Dram Customer Base By Region
Table 142 (Continued)
Rdram Market
Table 143. Intel Memory Production Investments ($ Millions)
Rdram Market (Continued)
Rdram Applications
Rdram Production
Table 144. Rdram Production By Company, 1999-2002 (Millions Of 128-Mbit Equivalent Units)
Ddr Dram Market
Table 145. Ddr And Qdr Dram Unit Sales, Through 2007 (Millions Of Units)
Ddr Dram Market (Continued)
Ddr Dram Market Share And Production Capacity
Ddr Dram Market Share And Production Capacity (Continued)
Table 146. Ddr Dram Production By Company, 1999-2002 (Millions Of 128-Mbit Equivalents)
Table 146. (Continued)
Dram Manufacturing And Technology
Table 147. Dram Cell Size And Process Feature Length
Dram Die Wafer Capacity And Production Costs
Table 148. Dram Production Costs As A Function Of Wpm And Size
Table 149. Dram Capacity Per Wafer, By Company And Feature Length (75% Yield, 200-Mm Wafer Diameter)
Table 150. Gbits And Revenue Per Wafer, By Type And Feature Length (75% Yield, 200-Mm Wafer Size)
Regional Dram Production And Company Analysis
Table 151. Dram Capacity By Geographic Region (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafer Equivalents; Millions Of 128-Mbit Equivalents)
Regional Dram Production And Company Analysis (Continued)
Table 152. 300-Mm Dram Memory Wafer Fabrication Capacity, By Company (Thousands Of Wafers)
Table 153. Dram Wafer Fabrication Capacity By Company (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafer Equivalents)
Table 153. (Continued)
U.S.
Table 154. North American Dram Wafer Fabrication Capacity By Site, 1999-2002 (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafer Equivalents)
U.S. (Continued)
Korea
Korea (Continued)
Table 155. Korea Dram Wafer Fabrication Capacity By Site, 1999-2002 (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafer Equivalents)
Taiwan
Table 156. Taiwan's 200-Mm Dram Wafer Fabrication Capacity, 1999-2002 (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafer Equivalents)
Taiwan (Continued)
Taiwan (Continued)
Taiwan (Continued)
Taiwan (Continued)
Singapore
Table 157. Singapore Dram Wafer Fabrication Capacity, By Site, 1999-2002 (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafer Equivalents)
China
Table 158. China Dram Wafer Fabrication Capacity By Site, 1999-2002 (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafer Equivalents)
Europe
Table 159. European Dram Wafer Fabrication Capacity By Site, 1999-2002 (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafer Equivalents)
Japan
Japan (Continued)
Table 160. Japan Dram Wafer Fabrication Capacity By Site, 1999-2002 (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafer Equivalents)
Japan (Continued)
Sram Memory Market
Table 161. Worldwide Sram Revenue Shipments And Asp, Through 2007
Table 162. U.S. Sram Imports By Density Level, 2001
Table 163. U.S. Sram Imports And Exports, 2001
Table 164. U.S. Srams Exports By Country
Table 165. Sram Demand By Application Model, Through 2007 (2-Mbit Equivalents)
Company Market Share
Table 166. Sram Revenue By Company ($ Millions)
Sram Manufacturing And Design Technology
Sram Cell Technology
Table 167. Sram Cell Size And Process Technology
Sram And Soi Technology
Soft Error Rates
Sram Applications
Sram Applications (Continued)
Sram Products And Electrical Specifications
Table 168. Sram Product Types By Company
Table 168. (Continued)
Table 169. Sram Product Specifications
Table 169. (Continued)
Regional Sram Manufacturing
China
Japan
Table 170. Japan-Based Sram Wafer Fabrication Facilities
Korea
Table 171. Korean Based Sram Wafer Fabrication Facilities
Taiwan And Asia Pacific
Table 172. Sram Assembly And Packaging Facilities
U.S.
Table 173. U.S. Based Sram Wafer Fabrication Facilities

Worldwide Specialty Memory Market
Content Addressable Memory Market (Cam)
Content Addressable Memory Market (Cam) (Continued)
Table 174. Statistical Data Of Cam Companies, 2001
Cam History
Cam Product Developments
Cam Manufacturing And Technology
Table 175. Cam Cell And Memory Chip Sizes
Cam Customers
Product Technology History
Cam Manufacturing Capacity
Cam Product Operation
Cam Products And Pricing
Table 176. Cam Products By Company
Table 177. Cam Pricing
Cam Applications
Table 178. Cam Applications
3d Memory Market
3d Memory Market (Continued)
Table 179. Mcp Flash Sram Companies
Pseudo Sram (Psram) 1-T Sram Market
Psram Product Offerings
Table 180. Psram Products By Company
Psram Electrical Specifications
Table 181. Psram Electrical Specifications
Psram Production Capacity
License Agreements
Table 182. 1t Sram Cell Licensees
Psram Customers
Fifo Memory Market
Ip Core/Embedded Memory Technology
Table 183. Embedded Memory Capacity By Memory Type
Embedded Memory Market
Table 184. Ip Embedded Memory Core Sales, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 185. Embedded Ip Memory Companies By Memory Product
Table 185. (Continued)
Table 186. Embedded Memory Foundries
The Embedded Sram Market
The Embedded Flash Market
The Embedded Flash Market (Continued)
Licenses And Agreements
Embedded Flash Process Technology
Embedded Flash Facilities
Embedded Eeprom Market
Embedded Dram Market
Table 187. Embedded Dram Applications
Agreements And Licenses
Embedded Dram Integration Levels
Table 188. Embedded Dram Technology Integration Levels
Embedded Dram Integration Levels (Continued)
Embedded Dram Integration Levels (Continued)
Embedded Dram Integration Levels (Continued)
Embedded Dram Products
Embedded Ferroelectric Market And Technology
Application Specific Dram Markets
Application Specific Dram Markets (Continued)

Technology And Patent Developments
Technology And Patent Developments (Continued)
Magnetoresitive Technology (Mram)
Table 189. Motorola Mram Cam Patents
Figure 16. Magnetoresistive Memory Cell Circuit
Table 190. Micromem Mram Patents
Nanomemory Technology-The End-Game?
Nanomemory Technology-The End-Game? (Continued)
Table 191. Quantum Dot Companies And Research Organizations
Psram 1t Patents Patents
Table 192. 1t-Sram Dram Controller Patents
Computer Memory Licensees
Patents And Litigation
Patent Breakdown Analysis
Table 193. Patent Holdings By Region And Memory Type
Table 194. U.S. Memory Patent Holdings By North American Companies, Jan. 1996-Apr. 2002
Table 195. Japan's U.S. Memory Patents By Product And Company, Jan. 1996-Apr. 2002
Table 196. Taiwan's U.S. Memory Patents By Product And Company, Jan. 1996-Apr. 2002
Table 197. European U.S. Memory Patents By Product And Company, Jan. 1996-Apr. 2002
Table 198. Korean U.S. Memory Patents By Product And Company, Jan. 1996-Apr. 2002

Company Directory
1st Silicon
1st Silicon (America) Inc.
Altis Semiconductor
Advanced Micro Devices
Alliance Semiconductor
Advanced Memory International, Inc.
Angstrem
Atmel
Astralux, Incorporated
Atmos Semiconductor
Azalea Microelectronics
Brilliance Semiconductor
Brilliance Semiconductor, Inc.
Catalyst Semiconductor
Cellis Semiconductor
Crucial Technolgy
Crucial Technology Europe
Cypress Semiconductor
Dominion Semiconductor
Dongbhu Electronics
Dongbu Corporate
Elite Semiconductor Memory Technology, Inc.
Elpida Memory Inc.
Elpida Memory Usa
Enhanced Memory Devices
Epson Electronics America
Fairchild Semiconductor
Fairchild Semiconductor International
Fujitsu Amd Semiconductor
Fujitsu Fram Centre
Fujitsu Ltd.
Fujitsu Microelectronics America
Fujitsu Microelectronics Europe
Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp.
Gsi Technology
Hitachi America
Hitachi Ltd.
Hitachi Nippon Steel Semiconductor Singapore Pte. Ltd.
Hynix Semiconductor America
Hynix Semiconductor
Ibm Microelectronics
Innovative Silicon Solutions
Infineon Technologies
Ingentix
Integrated Device Technology
Integrated Silicon Solutions
Intel
Kawasaki Lsi
Kti Semiconductor, Nishiwaki 1
Lawrence Livermore Laboratories
Lemelson Assistive Technology Development Center
The Lemelson Center For Invention, Innovation And Entrepreneurship
M-Systems, Inc.
Macronix
Matrix Semiconductor, Inc.
Matsushita
Microchip Technology
Micromem Technologies
Micron Technology
Mikron
Mitsubishi America
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
Mitsubishi Electric Hong Kong Ltd.
Mitsubishi Electric Taiwan Company, Ltd.,
Mitsubishi Electric Asia Pte Ltd
Mitsubishi Electric Australia Semiconductor Division
Mosaid Technologies
Mosel-Vitelic
Mosys
Motorola Semiconductor Products
Music Semiconductors
Nanya Technology Corp.
Nanya Technology Corp. U.S.
Nano Amp Solutions
Nanosciences Corp.
National Scientific Corp.
Nciia-The National Collegiate Inventors And Innovators Alliance
Nec Electron Devices
Nec Electronics
Nec Shanghai Hua Microelectronics Co. Ltd.
Netlogic Microsystems
Nippon Foundry
Oki Semiconductor
Opticom Asa
Powerchip Semiconductor
Promos Technologies
Radiant Technologies
Rambus
Ramtron
Rolltronics
Rohm Electronics
Saifun Semiconductor
Samsung Austin Semiconductor
Samsung Semiconductor
Sandisk
Sanyo Electric
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.
Shanghai Hua Microelectronics Co. Ltd.
Sharp Corp.
Sharp Microelectronics Of The Americas
Shougang-Nec Electronics Co. Ltd.
Sibercore
Sigmaram Consortium
Silicon7
Silicon Access Technology
Silicon Based Technology
Silicon Storage Technology
Simtek
Singapore Economic Development Board
Singapore Economic Development Board, New York
Sony Corp.
Stmicroelectronics
Submicron Semiconductor Technologies Gmbh
Swiss Federal Institute Of Technology
Symetrix
Tech Semiconductor
Telcordia Technology
Thin Film Electronics Asa
Toshiba, Irvine
Toshiba Semiconductor Company
Tower Semiconductor
Trencenti Technologies
United Microelectronics
Vanguard International Semiconductor
Virage Logic
Winbond Electronics Corporation
Winbond Electronics Corp. America
Xicor
Zentrum Mikroelektronik Dresden
Ziptronix Incorporated

List Of Tables
Summary Table:
Worldwide Market For Semiconductor Memory, Through 2007 ($ Millions)
Table 1 Dimensions Of Rotating Memory And Nonrotating Memory
Table 2 Specifications Of Rotating Memory And Nonrotating, Nonvolatile Memory
Table 3 Worldwide Nonsemiconductor Computer Memory (Storage) Market, 2001 (Non-Chip Memory Markets, Millions Of Units)
Table 4 Worldwide Average Selling Price Of Different Memory Chips, 1999-2007 (128-Mbit Equivalents; In $)
Table 5 Worldiwde Memory Chip Prices For Different Memory Types, 2001 (Price Per Megabit, In $)
Table 6 Worlwide Unit Shipments By Memory Chip Type, 1999 Through 2007 (128-Mbit Equivalents)
Table 7 Worldwide Memory Revenue By Memory Chip Type, 1999 Through 2007 ($ Millions)
Table 8 Worlwide Memory Cellular Phone Applications By Memory Chip Type, 1999 Trough 2007 (Millions Of 128-Mbit Equivalents)
Table 9 Worldwide Memory Chip Unit Sales For Pc Main Memory, By Memory Chip Type, 1999 Through 2007 (Millions Of 128-Mbit Equivalents)
Table 10 Memory Chip Products By Type And Density
Table 11 Memory Production Revenue By Regional Base, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 12 Worldwide Memory Chip Sales By Company, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 13 Computer Memory Terminology
Table 14 Summary Of Acquisitons By Memory Companies, 1995-2001
Table 15 Computer Memory Companies By Primary Product Category
Table 16 Memory Semiconductor Companies By Tier-Market Segment
Table 17 Primary End-Product Markets For Computer Memory Chips
Table 18 Pc Customer Base By Region
Table 19 Worldwide Memory Card/Module Revenue, 2000 ($ Millions)
Table 20 Japan's Secure Data (Sd) Card Production By Site, 2000 (Units Per Month)
Table 21 Silicon Area For Different Types Of Memory Chips
Table 22 Electrical Specifications Of Memory Chips
Table 23 Distributors Of Memory Chips
Table 24 Memory Consumption By Geographic Region, Through 2007 ($ Millions)
Table 25 Memory Chip Company Sales By Region, 2001 (Percent Of Total Company Sales)
Table 26 U.S. Exports Of Memory By Product Type, 2001 (Millions Units, $ Millions)
Table 27 U.S. Imports Of Memory By Product Type, 2001 (Millions Units, $ Millions)
Table 28 Korean Memory Exports By Type, Second Quarter 2002 ($ Millions)
Table 29 Dram Consumption By Geographic Region, 1999 Through 2007 ($ Millions)
Table 30 Korean Exports Of Drams To The U.S., 2001 (Million Units, $ Millions)
Table 31 Korean Dram Exports By Product Type, 2000-2002 (Millions Of Units)
Table 32 Korean Dram Exports By Product Type (Percent Of Total Korean Dram Export Sales)
Table 33 Micron Technology's Total Product Revenue By Region, 1999-2001* ($ Millions)
Table 34 U.S. Exports Of Drams By Country, 2001
Table 35 Flash Consumption By Geographic Region, Through 2007 ($ Millions)
Table 36 Nonvolatile Memory Exports From The U.S., 2001
Table 37 U.S. Imports Of Eeproms, By Country, 2001 (> 900 Kbits)
Table 38 U.S. Exports/Imports, Eeproms, 2001
Table 39 Computer Equipment Imports Into The U.S., By Country, 1998-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 40 China's Pc Companies And Production, 2000-2002 (Millions Of Units)
Table 41 China's Cellular Phone Companies And Production, 2000-2002 (Millions Of Units)
Table 42 Nokia Revenue From China, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 43 Flash Process Technology Feature Length, By Year, 1986-2002
Table 44 Memory Cell Sizes In Terms Of Scale Factor S
Table 45 Silicon Surface Area For Different Size Wafers (Yield Of 75%)
Table 46 Wafer Fabrication Facility Costs (200 Mm)
Table 47 Feature Length Manufacturing Capacity, By Company, 2002
Table 48 Nonvolatile Memory Chip Specifications
Table 49 Nonvolatile Market Revenue By Company, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 50 Worldwide Flash Shipments, Revenue And Asp, 1999through 2007
Table 51 Worldwide Flash Sales By Type, 1999through 2007 ($ Millions)
Table 52 Nor Flash Revenue By Company, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 53 Applications Of Nand Flash By Market, 2001 (Percent Of Revenue)
Table 54 Nand/And Flash Revenue By Company, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 55 Nand/And Flash Shipments By Company, 1999-2001 (Millions Of 128-Mbit Equivalents)
Table 56 Sony Memory Stick Shipments By Application, 1999-2002 (Millions Of Units)
Table 57 Flash Demand Model, By Application, Through 2007 (128-Mbit Equivalents, Millions Of Units)
Table 58 Cellular Flash Customer Base By Region
Table 59 Pda And Handheld Pc Companies By Region
Table 60 Palm Inc. Annual Revenue By Year, 1997-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 61 Digital Camera Companies By Region
Table 62 Set-Top Companies By Region
Table 63 Silicon Storage Technology Sales, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 64 Silicon Storage Technology Flash Chip Prices, 2002 (For Purchase Orders Of 100,000 Units)
Table 65 Dvd Companies By Region
Table 66 Internet And Audio Player Companies
Table 67 Nor Flash Shipments By Application And Company, 2001 (Units, Millions Of 128 Kbit Equivalents)
Table 68 Nor Flash Shipments By Application And Company, 2000 (Units, Millions Of 128 Kbit Equivalents)
Table 69 Flash Shipments By Application And Company, 1999 (Units, Millions Of 128 Kbit Equivalents)
Table 70 Flash Customer Base, By Company
Table 71 Atmel Customer Base By Customer
Table 72 128-Mbit Nor Flash Equilvalent Shipments By Company (Millions Of 128-Mbit Equivalent Units)
Table 73 Nor Flash Shipments By Product Type And Company, 2001 (Millions Of Units)
Table 74 Flash Shipments By Product Type And Company, 2000 (Millions Of Units)
Table 75 Nand Flash Chip Pricing, 1999-2002 ($ Per Chip)
Table 76 Nor Flash Chip Pricing, 1998-2002 ($ Per Chip; Quantity Of 10k+)
Table 77 Other Flash Companies
Table 78 Flash Cell Size Versus Feature Length
Table 79 Flash Die Size, Process Technology, And Die Per Wafer
Table 80 Gbits And Revenue Per Wafer By Type And Feature Length, 2001 (75% Yield, 200-Mm Wafer Size)
Table 81 Nor Flash Wafer Production Capacity By Company, 1999-2002 (Thousands Of 8-Inch Wafers)
Table 82 300-Mm Flash Memory Wafer Fabrication Capacity, 1998-2002 (Thousands Of 12 Inch Wafers)
Table 83 Worldwide Total Nand/Nor Flash Production Capacity, By Region, Through 2007 (Thousands Of 8-Inch Wafer Equivalents)
Table 84 Taiwan Flash Wafer Fabrication Capacity, 1998-2002 (Thousands Of 8-Inch Equivalent Wafers)
Table 85 China's Flash Wafer Fabrication Capacity, 1998-2002 (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafer Equivalents)
Table 86 Singapore/Malaysia Flash Wafer Fabrication Capacity, 1999-2002 (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafers)
Table 87 Japan's Wafer Fabrication Capacity, 1999-2002 (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafers)
Table 88 Korea's Flash Wafer Fabrication Capacity, 1998-2002 (Thousands Of 8-Inch Wafer Equivalents)
Table 89 Europe's Flash Wafer Fabrication Capacity, 1999-2002 (Thousands Of 8-Inch Wafer Equivalents)
Table 90 Stmicroelectronics Process Road Map, 1998-2002
Table 91 North American 200-Mm Flash Wafer Production Capacity, 1998-2002 (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafers)
Table 92 Sharp Flash Supplier Production, 2001-2002 (Millions Of 128-Mbit Equivalents)
Table 93 Flash And Embedded Flash Contract Foundry Suppliers
Table 94 Major Flash Technology And Manufacturing Agreements
Table 95 Worldwide Ferroelectric Market Product Shipments, 2000-2007 (Millions Of Units)
Table 96 Ramtron Feram Product Revenue, 1996-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 97 Ferroelectric Companies And Organizations
Table 98 Feram Production Levels Of Selected Manufacturers, 1999-2002 (Millions Of 128 Kbit Equivalents)
Table 99 Applications For Ramtron's Products
Table 100 Ferroelectric Cell Size Versus Feature Length
Table 101 Ferroelectric Electrical Specifications
Table 102 Ferroelectric Memory Product Pricing ($)
Table 103 Ramtron Ferroelectric License Partners
Table 104 Ramtron's Top Customers, 2000-2001
Table 105 256-Kbit Mram Specifications
Table 106 Companies With Mram Development Efforts, 2002
Table 107 Rom Revenue By Company, 1999-2001
Table 108 Rom Product Types By Storage Density
Table 109 Eprom Revenue By Company, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 110 Eprom Applications
Table 111 Eprom Products By Storage Density
Table 112 U.S. Imports Of Eeproms, 2001
Table 113 Serial Eeproms By Company And Product Type
Table 114 Parallel Eeprom Products By Density
Table 115 Eeprom Revenue By Company, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 116 Serial And Parallel Eeprom Applications
Table 117 Eeprom Foundries
Table 118 Volatile Memory Market Revenue By Company, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 119 Dram Market Revenue, Shipments And Asp, Through 2007
Table 120 Worldwide Dram Shipments By Storage Density Capacity, 1999-2001 (Millions Of Units)
Table 121 U.S. Imports Of Drams, 2001
Table 122 Average Dram Megabytes Per Pc System Shipped, 1999-2002
Table 123 Worldwide Dram Revenue From The Pc Market, Through 2007 ($ Millions)
Table 124 Megabytes Of Main Memory Dram Shipped With Desktop Computers, By Manufacturer, June 2001 (Out Of 454 Models Surveyed)
Table 125 Dram Demand By End Market Segment, Through 2007 (Millions Of 128-Mbit Equivalents)
Table 126 Worldwide Video Game Dram Shipments, 1999 Through 2007 (Millions Of Units)
Table 127 Worldwide Dram Shipments To The Pda Market, Through 2007 (Millions Of Units)
Table 128 Worldwide Dram Asp By Storage Density Capacity, 1999-2007 ($)
Table 129 Korean Dram Asp By Product Type, Jan. 2001-Apr. 2002 ($)
Table 130 U.S. Drams Imports And Exports, 2001
Table 131 Asp Of Drams By Product Type, 2001
Table 132 Dram Market Revenue By Regional Origin, 1999 Through 2007 ($ Millions)
Table 133 Dram Revenue By Company, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 134 Dram Shipments By Company, 1999-2001 (128-Mbit Equivalents)
Table 135 Dram Shipments By Storage Density And Company, 2001 (Millions Of Units)
Table 136 Dram Shipments By Storage Density And Company, 2000 (Millions Of Units)
Table 137 Dram Shipments By Storage Density And Company, 1999 (Millions Of Units)
Table 138 Dram Shipments By Application, 2001 (Millions Of 128-Mbit Equivalents)
Table 139 Dram Shipments By Application, 2000 (Millions Of 128-Mbit Equivalents)
Table 140 Dram Customer Base By Company
Table 141 Infineon's Top Customers
Table 142 Dram Customer Base By Region
Table 143 Intel Memory Production Investments ($ Millions)
Table 144 Rdram Production By Company, 1999-2002 (Millions Of 128-Mbit Equivalent Units)
Table 145 Ddr And Qdr Dram Unit Sales, Through 2007 (Millions Of Units)
Table 146 Ddr Dram Production By Company, 1999-2002 (Millions Of 128-Mbit Equivalents)
Table 147 Dram Cell Size And Process Feature Length
Table 148 Dram Production Costs As A Function Of Wpm And Size
Table 149 Dram Capacity Per Wafer, By Company And Feature Length (75% Yield, 200-Mm Wafer Diameter)
Table 150 Gbits And Revenue Per Wafer, By Type And Feature Length (75% Yield, 200-Mm Wafer Size)
Table 151 Dram Capacity By Geographic Region (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafer Equivalents; Millions Of 128-Mbit Equivalents)
Table 152 300-Mm Dram Memory Wafer Fabrication Capacity, By Company (Thousands Of Wafers)
Table 153 Dram Wafer Fabrication Capacity By Company (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafer Equivalents)
Table 154 North American Dram Wafer Fabrication Capacity By Site, 1999-2002 (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafer Equivalents)
Table 155 Korea Dram Wafer Fabrication Capacity By Site, 1999-2002 (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafer Equivalents)
Table 156 Taiwan's 200-Mm Dram Wafer Fabrication Capacity, 1999-2002 (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafer Equivalents)
Table 157 Singapore Dram Wafer Fabrication Capacity, By Site, 1999-2002 (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafer Equivalents)
Table 158 China Dram Wafer Fabrication Capacity By Site, 1999-2002 (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafer Equivalents)
Table 159 European Dram Wafer Fabrication Capacity By Site, 1999-2002 (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafer Equivalents)
Table 160 Japan Dram Wafer Fabrication Capacity By Site, 1999-2002 (Thousands Of 200-Mm Wafer Equivalents)
Table 161 Worldwide Sram Revenue Shipments And Asp, Through 2007
Table 162 U.S. Sram Imports By Density Level, 2001
Table 163 U.S. Sram Imports And Exports, 2001
Table 164 U.S. Srams Exports By Country
Table 165 Sram Demand By Application Model, 1999 Through 2007 (2-Mbit Equivalents)
Table 166 Sram Revenue By Company ($ Millions)
Table 167 Sram Cell Size And Process Technology
Table 168 Sram Product Types By Company
Table 169 Sram Product Specifications
Table 170 Japan-Based Sram Wafer Fabrication Facilities
Table 171 Korean Based Sram Wafer Fabrication Facilities
Table 172 Sram Assembly And Packaging Facilities
Table 173 U.S. Based Sram Wafer Fabrication Facilities
Table 174 Statistical Data Of Cam Companies, 2001
Table 175 Cam Cell And Memory Chip Sizes
Table 176 Cam Products By Company
Table 177 Cam Pricing
Table 178 Cam Applications
Table 179 Mcp Flash Sram Companies
Table 180 Psram Products By Company
Table 181 Psram Electrical Specifications
Table 182 1t Sram Cell Licensees
Table 183 Embedded Memory Capacity By Memory Type
Table 184 Ip Embedded Memory Core Sales, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
Table 185 Embedded Ip Memory Companies By Memory Product
Table 186 Embedded Memory Foundries
Table 187 Embedded Dram Applications
Table 188 Embedded Dram Technology Integration Levels
Table 189 Motorola Mram Cam Patents
Table 190 Micromem Mram Patents
Table 191 Quantum Dot Companies And Research Organizations
Table 192 1t-Sram Dram Controller Patents
Table 193 Patent Holdings By Region And Memory Type
Table 194 U.S. Memory Patent Holdings By North American Companies, Jan. 1996-Apr. 2002
Table 195 Japan's U.S. Memory Patents By Product And Company, Jan. 1996-Apr. 2002
Table 196 Taiwan's U.S. Memory Patents By Product And Company, Jan. 1996-Apr. 2002
Table 197 European U.S. Memory Patents By Product And Company, Jan. 1996-Apr. 2002
Table 198 Korean U.S. Memory Patents By Product And Company, Jan. 1996-Apr. 2002

List Of Figures
Summary Figure:
Worldwide Market For Semiconductor Memory, 1999-2007 ($ Millions)
Figure 1 Transistor Size And Feature Length
Figure 2 Formula For Silicon Area As A Function Of Feature Length
Figure 3 Wafer Edge Loss
Figure 4 Sandisk Annual Revenue, 1999-2001 ($ Millions)
Figure 5 Cellular Phone Design
Figure 6 Digital Camera Flash Design
Figure 7 Macronix Flash Sales By Month, 2001 ($ Millions)
Figure 8 Tower Semiconductor Supply Chain
Figure 9 The Smic Supply Chain
Figure 10 The Sharp Supply Chain
Figure 11 The Sst Supply Chain
Figure 12 The Mitsubishi Supply Chain
Figure 13 Graphics And Motherboard Memory
Figure 14 Worldwide 128-Mbit Dram Pricing, April 2000-March 2002 ($ Per Unit)
Figure 15 Promos Sales By Month, Jan. 2001-Jan. 2002 ($ Millions)
Figure 16 Magnetoresistive Memory Cell Circuit  
 

Japan has traditionally dominated the computer memory chip market. Japan's multi-nationals¾Fujitsu, Hitachi, Nippon Electric Corp (NEC), Mitsubishi, Sharp, and Toshiba¾have for the most part controlled the production and supply of memory chips. However, the major focus for Japan's multinationals hasn't been on either memory chips or semiconductors. The majority of revenue for these companies has come from the production of computers, computer peripherals, telecommunications equipment, and consumer electronic systems. Semiconductor and memory chip production has been part of a vertical integration strategy for Japan. The majority of memory chips produced by these companies have ended up in the electronic systems they produce. In the past, this strategy provided a consistent supply of memory chips at low prices. This permitted Japan to offer low-priced consumer electronics and to capture the largest share of the worldwide consumer electronics market. Furthermore, the Japanese have been able to make a profit on their computer memory chips by selling excess production on the world market.

This vertical integration strategy in a more globalized economy has not been successful in recent years. As competitors from Korea and Taiwan have increased market share and capital investment costs for the production of memory chips, the price of computer memory has gyrated. Therefore, it has been less expensive for Japan's electronics companies to purchase computer memory chips from outside vendors rather than from their own internal operations. This has resulted in significant losses for Japan's memory chip operations. In response, Japan's memory chip and consumer electronic markets have restructured. Taiwan now manufactures a large percentage of Japan's commodity memory chips such as DRAMs and ROMs. In 2002 Japan has refocused its development efforts on advanced memory chip technology and the production of higher margin chips such as flash memory chips and embedded memory for system-on-a-chip products.

For the most part, American companies abandoned the DRAM memory market. Micron Technology is now the only major American manufacturer in the DRAM market. IBM and Texas Instruments both left the mainstream DRAM market to focus on products with more market stability. Advanced Micro Devices, another American company, competes in the nonvolatile flash memory market through its joint venture manufacturing facility, Fujitsu AMD Semiconductor Ltd. (FASL). European companies such as STMicroelectronics have remained in the flash memory market, but like Texas Instruments they abandoned DRAM operations. Infineon Technologies is the last major European manufacturer that competes with Asia for a share of the DRAM market.

Unlike most European and American memory chip companies, Japanese memory companies were vertically integrated into their parent's consumer electronics operations. Japan's memory companies are part of multi-conglomerates that have major operations in other areas of the electronics market: PCs, digital cameras, supercomputers, automobiles, telecommunications and wireless phones. Because of this, Japan's memory companies were guaranteed their parent company as a primary customer. Korea's Samsung memory chip operations are also part of a multi-conglomerate, and like the Japanese, they offer a multitude of varied products. Samsung, the world's leader in memory chip sales, has operations in cellular phones, PCs, set-top boxes and televisions.

It can be concluded that Japan initially had an advantage in the memory chip market. This was because Japan's computer memory chip companies had their parent companies as guaranteed customers and as providers of the large amounts of capital needed to build computer memory chip factories. Furthermore, Japan could produce lower cost consumer electronic systems because they could obtain computer memory chips at a lower cost from their own computer memory chip operations. This situation, however, worked against them when more competitors entered the market and when the computer memory markets suffered downturns. During these times, the price of obtaining computer memory chips on the open market was less than the cost of obtaining computer memory from their own computer memory chip factories. This not only resulted in losses from Japan's computer memory operations, but also Japan was not able to compete effectively in its traditional lead market-consumer electronics.

The question facing Japan was: It is more effective for computer memory chip companies to compete as part of conglomerates or as sole entities?. From business developments in the memory chip market, the industry has concluded that an independent memory chip company is the better strategy. Computer memory chip companies as independent companies have more flexibility. For example, independent memory chip companies can form joint ventures with other computer memory chip companies, which gives them access to the large amounts of capital needed to build state of the art chip factories and low cost chips. This also frees their parent companies from devoting large amounts of capital away from their primary operations.

But is the pendulum about to swing back again? New developments in chip manufacturing suggest that Japan has reduced the initial capital investment for the production of memory chips. Recent developments at Trecenti Technologies, the joint venture between Hitachi and United Microelectronics (of Taiwan), may prove the beginning of a trend. In February 2002, Hitachi purchased United Microelectronics' interest in the venture and is now the sole investor. Trecenti was formed in March 2000 as Japan's first 12-inch wafer fabrication facility for the mass production of memory and advanced system-on-a-chip products.

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

Below are the emerging memory technologies: