Wednesday, November 28, 2007
In a major move into the non-memory chip business, South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor Inc. has signed a partnership agreement with SiliconFile Technologies Inc., a developer of CMOS image sensors.
As part of the agreement, Hynix will manufacture and sell CMOS image sensor products using SiliconFile's design. Hynix will also provide foundry services for SiliconFile.
The companies plan to cooperate on future product development. In addition to this collaborative partnership, Hynix will acquire a certain portion of SiliconFile's equity, but it did not elaborate.
MagnaChip, Micron, OmniVision, Samsung, Toshiba and others also sell CMOS image sensors. Given Hynix' history in memories, the company could turn the CMOS image sensor market upside down with potentially new and low-priced products, observers said.
Several years ago, Hynix spun out its non-memory unit into a new company called MagnaChip Semiconductor Ltd.. MagnaChip supplies CMOS image sensors and other devices. It also provides a foundry business.
The South Korea-based company supplies its products to mobile manufacturers in Korea, Japan, and China. It currently holds approximately 8 percent share of the CMOS image sensor market for mobile phones, according to Hynix.
By: DocMemory
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