Elpida is to license Mirrorbit NAND flash from Spansion and act as a foundry for Spansion’s Mirrorbit production..
Both Elpida’s own Mirrorbit production, and Elpida’s foundry production of Mirrorbit for Spansion, will be done at Elpida’s 300mm fab in Hiroshima.
Both companies will sell Mirrorbit NAND flash independently under their own brand names.
Joint development and technology transfer activities for NAND products are underway in the Hiroshima fab.
As part of the expanded alliance, the companies intend to identify additional areas of co-operation such as NOR Flash memory products and manufacturing.
"The alliance with Spansion and the licensing of Spansion NAND IP enable Elpida to develop advanced NAND products which, when combined with our leading DRAM products, allows us to better service markets," says Elpida CEO, Yukio Sakamoto, "Spansion has developed a very flexible, scalable flash technology with its Mirrorbit charge-trapping technology. We're excited about joint NAND development and the potential for further collaboration in NOR Flash memory."
Elpida gets access to a competitive and scalable NAND technology while giving Spansion a cost-effective manufacturing solution with reduced research and development expenditures.
"Collaborating with Elpida furthers Spansion's strategy," says John Kispert, CEO of Spansion. "the joint NAND development activity and foundry agreement allows Spansion to efficiently expand its product offerings."
Since flash and DRAM can be run down the same production lines, they are very complementary products because their production can be switched according to demand.