SanDisk is to license 3D flash technology to Toshiba, however neither company is saying when they reckon it will be manufacturable in a re-writeable form.
SanDisk is thought to have been working on getting the OTP (One-Time-Programmable) 3D technology it acquired when it bought Matrix Semiconductor for $250m in 2006, to get it to the stage where commercially viable re-writeable chips could be put on the market.
It is said that Matrix had some examples of re-writeable 3D flash memories in its labs at the time of its acquisition by SanDisk two and a half years ago.
Before the acquisition, Matrix had been selling OTP 3D chips which are used in mini cards to store music and video for use in smartphones and portable video players.
While SanDisk has continued the sales of OTP 3D memories , they are not thought to have significant volume and separate sales data for OTP 3D chips is not published by SanDisk.
There is unconfirmed speculation that the deal with Toshiba may have been made because SanDisk has succeeded in finding a way through to commercialise re-writeable technology, and wants to work with Toshiba to get the technology to the next stage, which is mass-manufacturability.
SanDisk has already stated that it has budgeted $600m for 2009 and 2010 for equipment to manufacture 3D memory. That suggests that the problems with re-writeable 3D flash memory technology have been cracked and the company is contemplating a move into manufacturing next year.
The question now arises whether SanDisk will want to license the technology to Samsung.
SanDisk’s long-time partner in flash, Toshiba, has stated its intention of overtaking Samsung, the world No.1 flash vendor, in flash sales. A viable 3D memory technology would be one way to help Toshiba achieve that.
But SanDisk’s largest licensee is Samsung, and the two companies’ license agreement runs out next year. It will be a very interesting calculation for SanDisk to make to decide whether it’s worth giving up licensing revenues from Samsung in the hope that it can make more money by going-it-alone in 3D flash with its partner Toshiba.