Micron Technology is exploring plans to buy stakes in Inotera Memory.Nanya Technology and Qimonda have a joint DRAM manufacturing venture in Taiwan called Inotera.

But Micron recently entered into a surprising R&D and DRAM partnership with Nanya, which, turn, raises questions about the Qimonda-Nanya alliance.

''Following our meeting with Nanya, we believe that it is highly likely that Micron will purchase Qimonda's stake at Inotera following the recent JV establishment between Nanya and Micron,'' said Daniel Amir, an analyst with Lazard Capital Markets, in a report.

''We see Micron's wish to get 300-mm capacity as the main driver,'' he said. ''Micron is trying to position itself well in the DRAM market without spending the capex to build new fabs.''

If a deal would happen, ''this will increase Micron's capacity by 60,000 300-mm wafers per month. We estimate the total cost to be in the $1 billion range,'' he added.

By: DocMemory
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