Micron-Elpida merger would redraw DRAM market

SAN FRANCISCO—A potential merger between Micron Technology Inc. and Japan's Elpida Memory Inc. would dramatically redraw the DRAM landscape, creating a new No. 2 player that could challenge South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.'s leadership in the space, according to market research firm IHS iSuppli.

Speculation has been swirling in recent weeks that Micron is in negotiations to invest in or acquire Elpida, which has been plagued by five consecutive quarterly losses and is bogged down with debt. Neither company has publicly acknowledged any such discussions.

According to IHS, a merged Micron and Elpida would have capacity for 374,000 DRAM wafer starts per month. The combined company would have a 28 percent share of worldwide DRAM manufacturing capacity, placing it just behind Samsung, which has capacity for 433,000 wafer starts per month, or 33 percent of global DRAM capacity.

On their own, Elpida and Micron typically rank third and fourth in DRAM capacity, respectively, IHS said.
The reconfigured DRAM terrain also would mean that South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor Inc. would fall to third place with 23 percent share of DRAM capacity, or about 300,000 DRAM starts per month, IHS said.



Micron-Elpida merger would redraw DRAM market

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