Microchip reshapes its flash business with PCT deal

sources: Electronicsweekly    13/7/2010 16:48:43

Microchip Technology announced today that it has granted an exclusive limited license to sell certain Serial NOR-Flash products from its Silicon Storage Technology subsidiary to Professional Computer Technology of Taiwan.

The license is limited to certain geographic regions and industry segments.

According to Microchip, this is an exclusive limited licence to sell serial NOR-Flash products of SST from 512K to 64MB density in the geographic regions of Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, and ASEAN (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Philippines).

The license is also limited to specific markets including optical disc drives, set top boxes, electronic books, digital displays and PC monitors.

PCT will buy wafers from SST’s foundries in Taiwan and China and have the wafers probed, assembled and tested using SST’s qualified subcontractors in Taiwan and China.

?/SPAN>This deal continues our restructuring of the SST business by allowing Microchip to transfer an important component of SST’s Serial NOR-Flash Memory business to PCT through the grant of an exclusive limited license,?said Steve Sanghi, President and CEO of Microchip.

?/SPAN>With the sale of NAND drives and certain Memory products to Greenliant Systems Ltd. on May 21, 2010 and this exclusive limited license for a significant piece of Memory business to PCT, Microchip is well on its way to restructuring its SST subsidiary into a business model that will complement the Microchip operating model.?said Sanghi.

The financial terms of the license were not disclosed.