Infineon Techologies AG's memory spinoff Qimonda has ambitious plans to expand into the market for memory modules for servers. Qimonda said it is aiming for a 50-percent global market share.

Intel Corp. will soon introduce server platforms that are expected to regain market share from rival AMD Inc. According to Intel's roadmap, the mainstream market for servers based on dual-core processor is supposed to offer 80 percent greater performance compared to today's 2-GHz Xeon processors—with significantly less power consumption.

Qimonda plans to target the market by offering the matching fully buffered dual-in-line memory modules (FB DIMMs). "We are [aiming for] a market share of around 50 percent in this market segment," said Thomas Seifert, a Qimonda board member and second in command behind CEO Kin Wah Loh.

"The server market is strategic for us," Seifert added. "Unlike in the highly price-sensitive PC market, in the server market the memory supplier's application understanding is the decisive success factor."

Memory vendors must work closely with server developers in order to succeed, Seifert explained. Long before its spinoff from Infineon, the memory unit built up strategic relationships with server vendors like Dell Computer, Hewlett-Packard, Fujitsu Siemens Computer and IBM.

Memory performance has a significant impact on overall server performance, Seifert said. "According to Amdahl's law, for maximum total performance, a good balance between processor, I/O and memory is very important. Hyperthreading, 64-bit architectures and advanced bus systems were the basis for enormous improvements in performance. Now, FB DIMMs will bring the memory subsystem to the same performance level within the total system."

Qimonda has launched volume production of the FB DIMMs based on the Bensley server platform. The modules are available with densities up to 4 gigabytes and are designed for clock frequencies up to 667 MHz. One FB-DIMM contains several memory chips and an advanced memory buffer chip.

Memory rival Micron Technolology Inc. (Boise, Idaho) unveiled a 4-gigabyte FB DIMM at last year's Intel Development Forum. At the time, an Intel executive said high-density FB DIMMs "were essential to increasing memory capacity and performance in volume server platforms beginning in 2006."