Spansion to offer NAND in deal with Hynix

Spansion to offer NAND in deal with Hynix

SAN FRANCISCO—NOR flash memory vendor Spansion Inc. will offer single-level-cell (SLC) NAND flash devices for the embedded market under the terms of a deal announced Monday (April 2) with SK Hynix Inc.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, SK Hynix, formerly Hynix Semiconductor Inc., will make the NAND flash chips and Spansion (Sunnyvale, Calif.) will test, package, sell and support them under its brand name.

In a statement, Spansion said it would offer the SLC NAND chips at the 4x, 3x, and 2x nodes. The first products from the deal with Hynix will be available sometime in the second quarter, Spansion said.

As part of the relationship, Spansion and SK Hynix will enter into a patent cross-licensing agreement, Spansion said.

Spansion said it also would continue developing its charge-trapping NAND technology. Last year, the company entered a deal with Japan's Elpida Memory Inc. whereby Elpida would build SLC NAND based on Spansion's MirrorBit charge-trapping technology.

Spansion said the NAND products would complement its NOR offering and complete its product line, targeted at embedded applications such as automotive, industrial and telecommunications. The company said it plans to introduce a family of NAND products over the next few quarters.

"As demand for NAND memory grows in embedded segments, we are well positioned as we continue to broaden our portfolio of flash memory products to meet the stringent requirements of the embedded industry," said John Kispert, president and CEO of Spansion, in a statement.




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