Memory chip makers will offer more sophisticated flash drives for smartphones - technology that will be comparable to the solid-state drives (SSD) found in laptops today.

Advanced Inquiry Systems, a developer of wafer-level sensing systems for memory testing, has closed an US$11 million Series B financing round with all its current investors participating.

"On the DRAM side, there are shortages of DDR3 SDRAM due to surprising demand in the server and other markets...The price and demand picture for NAND are also improving," said Brian Shirley, VP of Micron Technology's memory group.

Inspur, a China-based IT solutions provider and server manufacturer, has agreed to acquire Qimonda's Xi'an R&D center for 30 million yuan (US$4.4 million).

The latest rumor: Japan's Elpida Memory is looking to buy Spansion's wireless chip unit for US$200-300 million. A spokeswoman from Elpida declined to comment. Spansion did not respond to e-mails.

Elpida Memory and Numonyx have delayed their scheduled foundry ramp by six months or so.

Insolvent German chipmaker Qimonda's deal to sell its GDDR technology to Japan's Elpida Memory is valued in the low double-digit million euro range, a person close to one of the companies said.

Microsoft's newest operating system for PCs will launch in late October, but it won't boost PC sales enough to help the global DRAM memory chip market until the second quarter of 2010.

Japan's Elpida Memory has said that it plans to more than double its output of advanced DRAM chips for high-speed computers and servers next month, pushing its shares higher on August 3.

"I don't think the memory companies are going to learn their lesson until the next cycle," said a Gartner analyst, conjuring up the vision of the memory companies as a room full of bad boys sitting in the principal's office

Japan's Elpida Memory has said that it was in talks about taking over German chipmaker Qimonda's high-end graphics DRAM operations to bolster its product lineup.

BTG International has accused several technology giants--including Apple, Dell and Sony--of infringing five patents related to flash memory technology by using chips from Samsung Electronics.

Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (GSMC) has announced the availability of its 0.18-micron cost effective OTP (One Time Programmable) process platform for applications such as voice controlled devices, remote controls, small home appliances or touch panels.

Samsung Electronics reported its highest quarterly net profit in over two years on Friday as its semiconductor and LCD businesses returned to profitability.

Lazard Capital Markets analyst Daniel Amir said he believes SanDisk gained market share of about 3% at the expense of rivals in the MicroSD memory card market during the second quarter.

There has still been no word from Elpida on what appears to be a pandemic of Hyper memory chip failures, despite the fact that firms seem to be dropping the chips faster than a hot potato.

...Cash flow is improving while Rivals are shutting factories. Perhaps most important, Micron has been cutting its production costs, betting that increased financial efficiency will help it survive any further shakeout along with the market leader Samsung Electronics.

The semiconductor memory industry is about to experience major technological changes as three-dimensional multi-gate structures push transistors and memory architectures forward, according to a one-day memory workshop held last month in Grenoble, France, by leading researchers from around the world.

Japanese PC chip maker Elpida Memory will receive financial support of about 200 billion yen ($2.1 billion) from the government and public and private sector banks, the Nikkei business daily said on Saturday.

Micron Technology's fiscal third-quarter loss widened on lower sales and a write-down on the value of its imaging unit, but its gross margin turned positive after three negative quarters as the cost of producing chips fell below their selling price. The loss was the 10th consecutive quarterly loss for the memory-chip maker.

Samsung Electronics' memory chip business is expected to return to the black in the second quarter thanks to production cutbacks and steady rises in chip prices.

Rambus has showcased an XDR memory system that delivers data rates of up to 7.2Gbps, with Elpida's recently-announced 1Gb XDR DRAM device.

Spansion and Samsung Electronics are set to resume their legal dispute after a bankruptcy judge rejected a $70 million patent settlement between the two companies.

Samsung may ask its key PC-related clients to pay more. Hynix was looking for a chance to raise its contract-based chip prices for the second straight month.

Micron Technology on June 1 announced that it has signed an agreement to sell a majority interest in its imaging solutions business, Aptina Imaging. Micron will retain a 35% minority stake in the independent, privately held company.

There is no such thing as a final deadline for the Qimonda negotiations, the company's insolvency administrator clarifies. The search for an investor continues.

A scandal involving the chairman of parent Samsung did no harm to the reputation of Samsung Electronics, which won the title of South Korea's overall most-admired company in the Asia 200 survey.

Nanometrics has begun shipping its Lynx cluster metrology systems, as a follow-on order to a leading memory manufacturer as part of its plan for high-volume manufacturing of its latest DRAM and flash memory technologies.

Europe's depleted semiconductor sector needs a strong leader to unite the continent's chipmakers around common goals if chip manufacturing in the region is to survive, the European head of industry association SEMI said.

Samsung Electronics Friday said global demand for memory chips will improve in the second quarter and expects global shipments of personal computers to rise by a low-single percentage from the preceding quarter.

Elpida Memory, Japan's largest maker of computer-memory chips, plans to raise prices as much as 50% and break even by June as industry-wide production cuts help ease a supply glut.

Qimonda AG's Portuguese unit said it's reducing its workforce to 1,000 and suspending the contracts of 800 of the remaining employees for six months.

Micron Technology has announced that it intends to offer, subject to market and other considerations, common stock and convertible senior notes for total aggregate gross proceeds of approximately US$450 million. The company said these offerings will be used for general corporate purposes, including working capital, capital expenditures, and potential acquisitions and strategic transactions.

Elpida's loss widened to an estimated 160 billion yen (US$1.59 billion) from 23.5 billion yen in the previous financial year, the Nikkei said, without citing anyone.

"I expect that the number of DRAM makers will be reduced by three or four from the current 10 this year," said Hynix Semiconductor CEO Kim Jong-kap.

An end-of-March deadline for Qimonda AG to find investors has been extended, and liquidation of the memory-chip maker is still a possibility, according to court officials in Munich.

The NAND rally continues. Vendors continue to increase their component prices, while SanDisk separately raised its flash card tags, according to an analyst. Amid component shortages--and reported "quality issues" at the Intel-Micron joint venture--NAND prices could jump again in 2Q.

Micron is bidding for between $20 million and $100 million to convert idle buildings in Boise and Nampa to manufacture solar panels and high-efficiency lighting components. The company says its plan could establish Idaho as a world leader in developing and manufacturing solar modules or LED lighting, or both.

Hundreds of laid-off Qimonda Richmond employees will not be paid their final paychecks or receive wages for vacation days and time off they earned before being dismissed by the memory-chip maker.