The two companies have reached an agreement to share patents for chipmaking technologies.

For the first time, the company that makes more than half the world's mobile DRAM chips may buy them from SK Hynix, said Shin Jong Kyun, head of Samsung's mobile business.

Micron Technology has posted a quarterly loss, hurt by acquisition-related expenses, but the chipmaker's revenue and margins improved.

The reason is quite understandable really: demand for DRAM is still dropping, so how can there be a price improvement?

Industry consolidation to just three big DRAM suppliers and a reduction in capital expenditures among these manufacturers helped propel DRAM average selling prices (ASPs) up 13% year over year in January. Capex budgets are also being trimmed for NAND flash (though not nearly as much as DRAM), and that, along with ongoing unit demand, has put upward pressure on ASPs for these memory devices as well.

The US International Trade Commission said Tuesday it won't challenge an administrative law judge's decision that Nanya Technology could end its memory patent probe into bankrupt Elpida Memory after licensee Micron Technology offered to acquire Elpida for US$2.5 billion.

A tectonic shift from PCs to mobile devices is remaking the DRAM market, moving a historically volatile business onto firmer, safer ground.

Elpida's main bankruptcy proceeding is being handled by a district court in Tokyo, but Christopher Sontchi, the Delaware Bankruptcy Court judge overseeing Elpida's parallel US case, said the company was taking a risk by not keeping creditors better informed.

Apple instead picked Japan's Toshiba, Elpida Memory and Korea's SK Hynix to supply DRAM and NAND chips.

Elpida Memory said it opposes moves by a group of bondholders to block its sale to Micron Technology because it would interfere with an "entirely fair" reorganization.

About 20 bondholders of Elpida Memory are negotiating with alternative sponsors to replace a takeover offer by Micron Technology they consider too low, a representative said.

On Tuesday, the group - Linden Advisors, LIM Advisors, Owl Creek Asset Management and Taconic Capital Advisors - reiterated its opposition to Micron Technology?嚙編 US$2.5 billion offer for Elpida.

Elpida Memory bondholders plan to tell a Tokyo court today that Micron Technology's takeover offer for the bankrupt Japanese memory-chip maker is too low, according to a person familiar with the matter.

A group of Elpida Memory bondholders will vote against Micron Technology's plan to acquire the bankrupt Japanese chipmaker for about US$750 million, arguing that it undervalues the company's assets, a court filing shows.

Micron Technology will purchase failed DRAM manufacturer Elpida Memory Inc., The Nikkei reported early Friday. The acquisition price is estimated at 200 billion yen.

Micron Technology has introduced a new class of 1GHz, 2-gigabit (Gb) and 4Gb, 30-nanometer (nm) DDR3 devices, strengthening the company's comprehensive DDR3 portfolio.

Micron may ask creditors of the financially troubled Elpida Memory to forgive more than US$3.8 billion in debt.

FormFactor raised its second-quarter revenue expectations Tuesday, pointing to customer demand across its DRAM and flash memory segments.

With a solid cash position, we believe that Micron will be able to win the bid for Elpida and position itself to capitalize the consolidation in the DRAM market.

Researchers have revealed details of a promising way to make a fundamentally different kind of computer memory chip.

Micron Technology has announced development of its first fully functional DDR4 DRAM module. The company has begun sampling and has received feedback from major customers to support quick implementation for applications in 2013.

Micron has offered a total of JPY220 billion in financial assistance and would also allow Elpida to retain its two main plants in Hiroshima and Akita prefectures, according to sources.

Chip maker SK Hynix said in a regulatory filing that its shareholders have agreed to call off a bid for Elpida. There were no further details in the statement.

China's Hony Capital plans to sell or outsource the operations at Elpida Memory's Hiroshima DRAM plant to Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) if its bid for the bankrupt Japanese chipmaker is successful, the Nikkei business daily said on Tuesday.

The selection process for a sponsor to support the rehabilitation of Elpida Memory has reached its final stage. Micron Technology, SK Hynix and a consortium of US and Chinese investment funds are expected to participate in the second round of bidding, which will likely wrap up Friday.

Micron Technology has reached an agreement to settle a lawsuit filed by Oracle over an alleged conspiracy to increase DRAM prices.

Hynix Semiconductor said the chip industry is set to recover from the second half of this year as the prices of DRAM chips have been rebounding following news of Japanese chip maker Elpida Memory's bankruptcy protection filing late last month.

Hitachi has sold all 12.8 million shares of Elpida, spokesman Yuichi Izumisawa said by phone today, confirming an earlier Nikkei report.

With DDR4 DRAM set to hit the market in 2013, two manufacturers took the opportunity at this year's ISSCC to demonstrate their DDR4 DRAM.

Flash memory vendor SanDisk is looking for a director of processing engineering management for a 3-D resistive RAM team based in Milpitas. A job ad for the position was posted in SanDisk's website dated Feb. 15, 2012.

Hynix Semiconductor jumped to an eight-month high in Seoul trading after Hyundai Securities said contract prices for DRAM chips increased and as financing delays at Japan's Elpida Memory raised the prospect of less competition.

Micron Technology president Mark Adams said prices of computer memory have probably hit their lowest after a slump that caused losses at three of the four largest companies in the industry.

Mark Durcan became interim CEO hours after Appleton died Friday, in accordance with Micron's bylaws. Micron's board wasted no time in making the job permanent Saturday, ensuring no gap in leadership at the top of a company that employs 6,000 people in the Treasure Valley.

Nanya Chairman Chia Chau Wu told Reuters on Monday that he did not know of any deal between the other two companies and the company had no current intention to take part in any deal. He declined to comment on whether Nanya would welcome any such tie-up.

Elpida Memory has entered the final stage of negotiations on a merger with Micron Technology and Taiwan's Nanya Technology, sources said.

Elpida Memory aims to put together a drastic restructuring plan by the end of January, which it then hopes to show to its creditor banks, as the struggling chipmaker faces a slew of upcoming corporate bond and loan repayments, the Mainichi Shimbun reported in its Sunday morning edition.

JEDEC Solid State Technology Association has announced the availability of a new standard for wide I/O mobile DRAM: JESD229 wide I/O single data rRate (SDR).