Saifun Semiconductors has announced an agreement with Infineon Technologies AG granting Infineon a new license for the use of Saifun NROM technology for its line of Flash memory products. Under the agreement, the two companies will continue to cooperate closely in technology and product development. Infineon will acquire Saifun's share in their joint venture, Infineon Technologies Flash (IFL).
Saifun did not state why it was exiting the joint venture, or how much it would receive for its 30% share, but the licensing agreement appears to be worth tens of millions of dollars. Most probably Saifun wished to concentrate on the development side of the technology. Another reason for selling out of the joint venture may be the difficulties it has encountered, which resulted in a large proportion of the Saifun employees returning to Israel. The joint venture was set up in 2001, under the name Ingentix.
Saifun NROM is a non-volatile memory technology developed by Saifun Semiconductors that is currently used for NAND-Flash, NOR-Flash and EEPROM. Incorporated in Infineon products under the trade name TwinFlash, Saifun's NROM technology currently stores two locally-separated bits in one transistor cell, which means lower production costs.
"IFL has demonstrated its ability to develop Saifun NROM-based products, to produce these products at high volume and to bring them to the market place," said Saifun CEO Dr. Boaz Eitan. "The new licensing agreement marks a major milestone for Saifun."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on January 24, 2005