Spansion Inc. and SK Hynix today announced an alliance to deliver Spansion SLC NAND products at the 4x, 3x, and 2x nodes to the embedded market. The first Spansion SLC NAND products resulting from this alliance will be available beginning in the second quarter of 2012. As part of the relationship, the companies will enter into a patent cross-licensing agreement.

Spansion's NAND products complement its NOR offering and complete its product line, which is targeted at embedded applications such as automotive, industrial and telecommunications. Spansion's high performance and high reliability SLC NAND product portfolio will come with Spansion's recognized customer support and commitment for longevity of supply, which is highly valued in the embedded market, where Spansion has established relationships. Spansion will apply its stringent process for qualification, testing, extended temperature support and packaging to its NAND products. The company plans to introduce a family of NAND products over the next few quarters.

ZOTAC is flexing its engineering muscle. First, it was talk of a 2 GHz GeForce GTX 680 by one of its senior executives, and now this, ZOTAC GeForce GTX 680 Extreme Edition. Pictured below, the card's design is reminiscent of the crazy engineering endeavors ZOTAC China undertakes, to come up with some extremely powerful designs, which seldom get out of the APAC region (to EMEAI and NA regions).

ZOTAC took a top-tier binned GK104 GPU, 2 GB of high-grade Hynix GDDR5 memory chips, and paired them with a 12-phase VRM power supply. Apart from bleeding-edge International Rectifier GaNpowIR driver-MOSFETs, the VRM uses server-grade tantalum capacitors, and FPCAP multi-phase capacitors. To drive it all, ZOTAC used CHiL CHL8318 VRM controller.

With significant growth in demand for NAND flash memory, with the advent of Intel's Ultrabook form-factor, and the transition of Apple's MacBook range to slimmer form-factors that could raise demand of solid-state storage, memory makers are stepping up production of NAND flash memory. Samsung recently announced the setting up of a 12-inch NAND flash wafer production facility in China. In response to this, the other major Korean memory-maker, Hynix, indicated that its plant located in Wuxi, China, will switch from producing DRAM to NAND flash. This switch seems short-term and Hynix plans to expand the plant later, to accommodate NAND flash production. Hynix is currently a much smaller player in the NAND flash industry than Samsung.

Even as Elpida has filed for bankruptcy protection and is dealing with restructuring, its disposal of a subsidiary Taiwan-based DRAM foundry Rexchip will impact DRAM supply and pricing, sources told DigiTimes. Rexchip has a monthly foundry capacity of 800,000 12-inch wafers and uses 65,000 wafers currently. Elpida has just finished development of 25 nm DRAM technology, which gives it competitiveness over other DRAM majors, Samsung Electronics and SK-Hynix.

As analyzed in an older report, should Elpida's restructuring take a turn for the worse, leading to an exit from the DRAM industry, it could have huge consequences on the competitive environment of the industry. DigiTimes currently reports that DRAM prices are slowly, but surely creeping back up. DRAM contract prices for March have risen 5.7% on average, the prices of 4 GB DDR3 modules have gone as high as US $18.75, with average prices of $18.50.

In case Elpida is unable to repay its debts due in April and goes insolvent, marking its exit from the DRAM industry, the consequences for not just the DRAM industry, but also the PC industry as a whole, will be huge, note industry observers. On the 15th, Eplida released a statement on the assumed going concern in the company with regards to its debt situation. The company has been unable to recover from its condition despite injections of capital backed by no less than the Japanese government.

Elpida has to repay nearly 40 billion JPY US ($505.8 million) to the government, and another 80 billion JPY (US $1.02 billion) in short-term bank loans. Frantic negotiates are on between the company and its long list of creditors that include the Japanese government and other banks to seek an interim relief from the default, even as the company searches for a cash-source that would alleviate the situation and make it survive. Elpida's situation is different from that of Qimonda, it's larger, has more technologies in the pipeline, and has recently set up 30 nm-class mass-production and is testing 20 nm-class production. In other words, it has much greater potential as a company that contributes to the industry, if it survives. Its exit will leave the industry imbalanced, and dominated by Korean DRAM makers such as Samsung and Hynix, and American Micron Technology, a step closer to oligarchical price-controls, observers note.

Rambus is the company best known for suing dozens of companies over memory patents that it holds and is suing so prolifically, that many just see this company as a patent troll. It has been accused many times of obtaining submarine patents while a member of the JEDEC group until a decade ago, which it is now fraudulently using to try and extort royalties from every other company using DDR memory and its derivatives. Unfortunately, those lawsuits didn't stick, encouraging Rambus to carry on enthusiastically. Rambus won patent fights against NVIDIA and Samsung for example, who now have to pay them ongoing royalties. However, it looks like Rambus may have bitten off more than it could chew, because it has just lost a $4 billion antitrust lawsuit against Micron Technology Inc and Hynix Semiconductor Inc, erasing more than half of the chipmaker's value as investors abandoned its stock in droves. Rambus stock immediately plunged more than 60% on this good news.

Hynix Semiconductor Inc. and Toshiba Corporation today announced that they have agreed to strategic collaboration in the joint development of Spin-Transfer Torque Magnetoresistance Random Access Memory (MRAM), a fast emerging next generation memory device. Once technology development is successfully completed, the companies intend to cooperate in manufacturing MRAM products in a production joint venture. Hynix and Toshiba have also extended their patent cross licensing and product supply agreements.

Toshiba recognizes MRAM as an important next-generation memory technology with the potential to sustain future growth in its semiconductor business. Hynix has a cutting-edge memory technology, most notably in manufacturing process optimization and cost competitiveness. The collaboration announced today, between two of the world's leading semiconductor manufacturers in a promising new technology, is expected to make a significant contribution to the continued progress of the world semiconductor industry.

Gigabyte is constantly revising designs of its already-launched graphics cards. This time around, it's the Radeon HD 6970 WindForce 3X (GV-R697UD-2GD). This custom design graphics card sticks to AMD's reference clock speeds, but creates some overclocking headroom with its WindForce 3X cooler, and a strong VRM on the PCB. The new revision 2.0 packs an NEC/Tokin Proadlizer, which is a high-grade multiphase capacitor, that helps in conditioning the power to the GPU.

Apart from this small yet important change, everything else is the same. The PCB uses Gigabyte's Ultra Durable VGA+ construction, which includes 2 oz copper PCB, low RDS (on) MOSFETs, ferrite core chokes, hand-picked tier-1 GDDR5 memory chips by Samsung or Hynix, hand-picked GPU, and clock speeds of 880 MHz core and 5.50 GHz GDDR5 effective memory. There is 2 GB of memory. Expect the new revision to cost roughly the same as the original.

Hynix Semiconductor Inc. ('Hynix') today announced that it has developed 2Gb(Gigabit) DDR4 DRAM and DDR4 DRAM based 2GB(Gigabyte) ECC-SODIMM(Error Check & Correction Small Outline Dual In-line Memory Module) applying its leading 30nm class process technology. The DDR4 DRAM product meets the JEDEC standard and the module product is designed for the micro server.

DDR4 DRAM is a next generation memory product which consumes less electronic power while it transfers data as twice as faster than the existing DDR3 DRAM. The device works at the industry's fastest speed of 2400Mbps(Megabits per second), which is also 80% faster than DDR3 1333Mbps product. The Module product operates at such a low voltage of 1.2V and processes up to 19.2 GB (Gigabytes) of data per second with a 64-bit I/O.

Colorful, the brains behind the iGame series of fully-loaded performance-thru-mainstream graphics cards is continuing to let its creativity fly. This time around, the company is working on a new GeForce GTS 450 graphics card that's "slim" in more ways than one. To begin with, the card will feature a single-slot cooling solution, next, the designers completely did away with "big" and redundant components on the PCB, and replaced them with higher-grade yet compact and less in number components. For example, while most other graphics card vendors fill up the 128-bit wide GDDR5 memory bus of the GeForce GTS 450 with eight 1 Gbit (128 MB) chips, with two chips sharing a 32-bit wide path, Colorful used just four higher-density memory chips. That's four 2 Gbit (256 MB) memory chips made by Hynix to achieve the same capacity, reducing board footprint, and possibly heat and energy draw.

All cylindrical capacitors are replaced by server-grade flatbed high-C POSCAP capacitors. The card uses a simple 3+1 phase VRM, driven by an ON-Semi made controller. The chokes used don't exactly sit on the PCB, rather, they're suspended in openings of the PCB, by their leads, this improves ventilation around the chokes, and reduces the size of the chokes on the obverse side, reducing the obstruction caused to the cooler. The PCB itself is well "ventilated". All free-space on the PCB is used to carve out vents for the cooler to draw in air from. Colorful did not mention when tentatively it plans to release this product.

Colorful made global headlines when it unveiled the iGame GTX 460 graphics card to markets outside its niche of China and other East Asian markets. With the more affordable GeForce GTS 450, we thought it went softer with its non-reference GTS 450 graphics card that is designed appropriately for the market-segment. Now it looks like Colorful is back to an exorbitant product design, with the iGame GTS 450. This card sports similar styling to its GTX 460 cousin. The "shark-fin" cooler design that "breathes in" air for efficient ventilation is also there, but the key feature here is a design meant for overclocking.

The iGame GTS 450 makes use of a strong VRM area that makes use of a 5-phase design, with high-grade ONSEMI-made MOSFETs and server-grade NCC POSCAP capacitors, low-latency GDDR5 memory chips from Hynix, and a dual-BIOS design that is user-controllable with a switch on the rear panel. Each BIOS stores a different clock-speed profile, the first one is failsafe, sticking to reference speeds of 783/3608 MHz (core/memory); while the second one sports aggressive speeds of 900/4100 MHz. Colorful also mentions that with all the high-grade components on board, one can benefit from its overclocking capabilities that take it beyond that high-speed clock profile. Outside Asia, Colorful will release this card in Europe, the company has not finalised its price.

HP today announced that it has entered into a joint development agreement with Hynix Semiconductor Inc., a world-leading memory supplier, to bring memristor, a new circuit element first intentionally demonstrated in HP Labs, to market in future memory products. Memristors require less energy to operate, are faster than present solid-state storage technologies and can retain information even when power is off. The memristor, short for "memory resistor," was postulated to be the fourth basic circuit element by Prof. Leon Chua of the University of California at Berkeley in 1971 and first intentionally reduced to practice by researchers in HP Labs, the company's central research arm, in 2006.

Earlier this year, HP announced the discovery that the memristor also can perform logic, showing that memristor-based devices could change the standard paradigm of computing by enabling computation to one day be performed in chips where data is stored, rather than on a specialized central processing unit.

Hynix Semiconductor Inc., today announced that it has begun mass producing 64 Gigabit (Gb) NAND Flash using 20nm class technology at its 300mm Fabrication, M11 in Cheongju site. The Company developed this cutting edge technology last February.

Hynix's 20nm class 64Gb chip doubles the density in a package over the current 32Gb product. 20nm class process technology also provides a 60% increase in productivity over Hynix's existing 30nm class technology. By providing these high density and cost efficient chips, Hynix will respond to the needs of advanced mobile solutions which require smaller size and higher density storage capacity.

As many as nine major chip vendors were fined a total of 331 million Euros (US $404.2 million) for participating in illegal price-fixing activities, by the European Union authorities. These include Samsung, Hynix, Nanya, Elpida, Infineon, NEC, Toshiba, Hitachi, and Mitsubishi. A 10th company in this price-fixing cartel was Micron Technology, which escaped the fine for exposing the malpractice to the EU authorities. Of these Samsung was given the single biggest fine of 146 million Euros, followed by Infineon at 57 million Euros. The fines were reduced by 10% because all companies extended cooperation in the investigations.

The price-fixing cartel mostly involved bad trade of DRAM chips, and was active between 1998 and 2002, operating with a network of contacts which secretly exchanged pricing information. They colluded to fix prices of DRAM chips sold to major PC and server manufacturers. Investigations in the scam began in 2002 when Micron blew the whistle on the cartel. "By acknowledging their participation in a cartel the companies have allowed the Commission to bring this long-running investigation to a close and to free up resources to investigate other suspected cartels," said EU's Competition Commissioner, Joaquin Almunia. "As the procedure is applied to new cases it is expected to speed up investigations significantly," he added.

Hynix Semiconductor Inc., today announced the industry's first 2 Gb (Gigabit) GDDR5 called H5GQ2H24MFR-R2C using its leading-edge 40nm class process technology.

The newly developed GDDR5 is the fastest and highest density graphics memory available in the market. It operates at 7 Gbps (Gigabit per second) bandwidth and processes up to 28 GB/s (Gigabytes per second) with a 32-bit I/O. In addition to its fastest speed and highest density, it is also designed to minimize power consumption with 1.35V operation voltage. It is an 'eco-friendly' device which reduces energy consumption by 20% over the preceding memory solutions using 50nm class technology.

Hynix Semiconductor, Inc. has announced the Intel validation of 2Gb (Gigabit) DDR3 DRAM using 40nm class process technology.

Hynix's newly validated products are 2Gb DDR3 SDRAM component, 4GB (Gigabyte) DDR3 SODIMM (Small Outline Dual In-line Memory Module) and 2GB DDR3 UDIMM (Un-buffered Dual In-line Memory Module) at the operating speed of 1333MHz with 1.5V power supply.

The products can offer the maximum data transfer speed of 1867MHz with 16-bit I/O and 3.7GB/s (Gigabytes per second) bandwidth. The productivity of Hynix's 40nm class 2Gb DDR3 is increased by more than 60% over 50nm class process technology.

Hynix Semiconductor, Inc. has announced the second generation 1Gb (Gigabits) DDR3 using 54nm process technology. Hynix's new 1Gb DDR3, offered in x4 (H5TQ1G43TFR) and x8 (H5TQ1G83TFR) organizations, has innovative design modifications that significantly reduce power consumption of the device.

The new product operates at 1.5V (volts) power supply as the existing 1Gb DDR3 product and further reduces power consumption by 30% over the existing one. This second generation product is the highest performing memory in the industry among 1Gb density category which is the mainstream of the products. According to the iSuppli, a market research firm, the portion of the world wide 1Gb DDR3 is currently estimated to be 87%. The iSuppli estimates that higher densities will become the mainstream when it is expected to account for more than 50% in 2011.

Zotac's design team is at it again, releasing a newer graphics card design based on the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 GPU. This one, concentrates on making the card shorter, lengthwise. The shorter graphics card also makes do with just one 8-pin PCI-Express power connector. The PCB length is lopped from the typical 26.5 cm to 23 cm, making it easier to fin in smaller cases. With the PCB compact, several heat-producing components are moved closer to each other, making it easier to cool with a smaller common cooler base plate.

Hynix Semiconductor, Inc. announced the 4Gb (Gigabits) mobile DDR SDRAM is now supported on Intel's 'Moorestown' platform for MID (Mobile Internet Device) applications.

This high density memory device packs twice the storage capacity over current 2Gb mobile memory solutions and is offered in small form factor packages such as MCP (Multi Chip Package) and PoP(Package on Package). It boasts maximum operating speed of 400Mbps (Megabits per second), processing up to 1.6GB (Gigabytes) of data per second with a 32-bit I/O.

Hynix Semiconductor, LG Electronics , Samsung Electronics, and Silicon Image, today announced the formation of an industry consortium that promotes Serial Port Memory Technology (SPMT) for broad market adoption as an industry standard. As the first-of-its-kind memory specification for dynamic random access memory (DRAM), SPMT will initially target the mobile handset market, enabling a new generation of devices capable of running highly data intensive, media-rich applications while at the same time extending battery life.

Hynix Semiconductor Inc, Numonyx B.V. and Phison Electronics Corp. today announced that they have signed a collaboration agreement to jointly develop controllers for the next generation of managed-NAND solutions based on the newly released JEDEC eMMC 4.4 industry specification. The collaboration is expected to speed the delivery of the industry's most advanced eMMC specification available, helping to manage and simplify high-capacity storage requirements and improve the overall system-level performance of wireless and embedded applications.
Under this agreement, Phison, Hynix and Numonyx will leverage their respective competencies to develop controllers used in combination with a variety of NAND flash products. Phison will exclusively supply the jointly developed controllers to Hynix and Numonyx, which will enhance their respective NAND flash memory solutions portfolio.

Hynix Semiconductor, Inc. announced that it has developed the world's first mobile 1Gb DDR2 DRAM using 54nm process technology. By successfully developing a 50nm-class process, Hynix has overcome the challenge of producing mobile DRAMs with both high speed and low power consumption features.

This device is offered at a maximum speed of 1066MHz, and with 32-bit I/O, boasts bandwidth of 4.26GB/s(Giga byte per second) on a single channel device and 8.52GB/s on a dual channel. Hynix's 'One Chip Solution' design, offers the customer flexible options with 2-bit or 4-bit prefetch, and 16 or 32-bit I/O on a single chip. Additionally, Hynix's new mobile DDR2 is an eco-friendly device since it consumes only 50% of power compared to the previous generation mobile DDR, and 30% compared to standard DDR2 DRAM.

Hynix Semiconductor today announced the validation of the HMT31GR7AUP4C, the world's first MetaRAM based 8 GB 2-rank DDR3 RDIMM, on Intel's Nehalem CPU based Tylersburg-EP platform
When fully populated with 3 DIMMs per channel, the Hynix 8 GB RDIMM operates at 1066 MHz speed. Competing industry standard modules exhibit performance degradation to 800 MHz when operating under full load. The Hynix 8 GB DDR3 RDIMM enables a maximum capacity of 144 GB operating at 1066 MHz in a dual processor Tylersburg-EP platform, not possible with industry standard DIMMs.

Zotac has yet another GeForce GTX 285 SKU in the making. This time, it plans to use its own-designed GTX 285 PCB with an Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme GPU cooler. Zotac isn't using the entire kit, as the NVIO2 and VRM heatsinks aren't compatible with this PCB design. Other manufacturers using this cooler for similar graphics cards include Galaxy, which uses it for its GTX 285 2 GB, and Inno3D, which uses the entire kit for its GTX 280 accelerator.

With the new PCB design, Zotac rearranged the card's VRM area. The design differs from another PCB design for the GTX 285 Zotac designed earlier (read here). The card uses 6 vGPU + 3 vMem power phases. Ferrite-core chokes are made use of, and an extra vGPU phase has been added for redundancy and stability (angled chokes next to the power connectors, pictured below). 1 GB memory across a 512-bit interface is present, with the company making use of Hynix N3C 0.77 ns GDDR3 chips. The clock speeds on this card adhere to NVIDIA's specifications: 648/1476/1242 MHz (core/shader/memory). The SKU is almost ready to be announced.

Rambus today announced that it has agreed in principle to terms for a compulsory license with Hynix Semiconductor (000660.KS) for SDR SDRAM and DDR SDRAM memory products. The parties have agreed to royalty rates of 1% for SDR SDRAM and 4.25% for DDR SDRAM memory devices for net sales after January 31, 2009 and before April 18, 2010. The latter rate applies to DDR, DDR2, DDR3, GDDR, GDDR2 and GDDR3 SDRAM devices, as well as DDR SGRAM devices. In addition, a proposed final judgment of $349M in damages, plus pre-judgment interest of approximately $48M has been submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The final amount of pre-judgment interest depends on the date final judgment is entered. Damages and royalty rates are limited to U.S. infringements.