Memory

Toshiba has launched a 250Gbyte 1.8in hard drive. "The dual platter MK2529GSG is the largest capacity 1.8in HDD available in the current market, with an areal density of 378.8Gbit/inch2," claims Toshiba.

Has Japan implemented the WTO's ruling on duties imposed on Korean DRAM? Or has it defied it? The WTO has now set up a group to rule on the issue.

It is working with Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to study new nanomaterials and structures for the non-volatile memory technology

But SanDisk rejected the bid, saying it “significantly undervalues SanDisk given the long-term prospects of its business.”

Can the memory makers put their businesses on a sounder footing for next year? Following massive losses in DRAM and NAND as companies single-mindedly pursued market share increases at the expense of everything else, there are signs that the industry is moving to a more sensible approach.

Spansion, which has 37% of the NOR flash market, is extending its trapped charge Mirrorbit technology to new applications, such as data storage, DRAM replacement in servers and wireless handsets, and ultra-cheap content delivery

Rambus is working with Spansion to develop a flash replacement for the DDR-2 DRAM used in wireless handsets

Spansion, with its technology development partner Saifun of Israel, is developing six bit-per-cell and eight bit-per-cell flash memory

Spansion, the NOR flash market leader, is heading into the NAND market with a new product it calls ORNAND2

The opening of a 40,000 wafer a month NAND flash memory chip fab in Korea by Hynix next month could be good news for consumers