Micron to Buy Flash Maker Numonyx for $1.27 Billion

By Geoff Duncan February 10, 2010

Micron Technology has announced a deal to acquire flash memory maker Numonyx in an all-stock deal valued at $1.27 billion. Micron is already the largest memory chip manufacturer in the United States, and Numonyx is the world’s largest maker of NOR flash memory—NOR flash memory is historically more common in cell phones, while NAND flash memory is usually used in SSDs, PMPs, and devices like the iPhone.

“We believe the opportunity for Numonyx to join with Micron will deliver a clear advantage for our customers and our employees,” said Numonyx president and CEO Brian Harrison, in a statement. “This announcement is a strong testimony to the value of Numonyx technologies, products, and people.”

Rolling NOR flash memory into Micron’s product portfolio fills in a missing piece of the memory puzzle: Micron already makes DRAM memory (used as computer RAM) and NAND flash storage. Adding the Geneva-based Numonyx to the company also broadens Micron’s customer base and increases the combined company’s manufacturing capacity for NAND flash memory.

Numonyx is a relatively young company: it was spun out from Intel and STMicroelectronics in 2008 when the companies combined their NOR and NAND flash manufacturing businesses.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Computing

Qualcomm buying wireless tech maker Atheros for $3.1 billion

qualcomm buying wireless tech maker atheros for 3 1 billion

Mobile technology powerhouse Qualcomm has announced it will be acquiring chipmaker and wireless technology developer Atheros in an all-cash deal valued at about $3.1 billion. One of Atheros's specialties is Wi-Fi networking gear now commonplace in virtually every computer and the growing panoply of smartphones and tablet devices, and is widely being viewed as a strategic move to take Qualcomm's business beyond its current focus on mobile phone technology and into mainstream mobile devices and computing.

"It is Qualcomm's strategy to continually integrate additional technologies into mobile devices to make them the primary way that people communicate, compute, and access content," said Qualcomm chairman and CEO Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, in a statement. "The combination of Qualcomm and Atheros is intended to accelerate this opportunity by utilizing best-in-class products for communications, computing, and consumer electronics to broaden existing customer relationships and expand access to new partners and distribution channels."

Computing

Google buys enormous Manhattan office building for $1.77 billion

google buys enormous manhattan office building for 1 77 billion picture 4

Google has purchased a piece of Manhattan real estate that might just be large enough to contain the company's ever expanding ambitions. The sale of the office building, residing at 111 Eighth Avenue in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, was reportedly completed for the palatial sum of $1.77 billion -- a figure that could rise to $1.9 billion after fees and taxes are tacked on to the bill. The deal is thought to be the largest single single asset sale in the U.S. during 2010 and the largest acquisition ever by a tenant (Google previously rented space in the building starting in 2006).

"Google New York started in a Starbucks on 86th Street with one person in 2000 -- a scrappy, highly caffeinated sales 'team,'" said David Radcliffe, Google's vice president for real estate and workplace services, in a blog post. "Now we have more than 2,000 Googlers working on a variety of projects in both sales and engineering -- and we're hiring across the board."

Computing

Oracle buying e-commerce provider ATG for $1 billion

Database giant Oracle has announced it has reached an agreement to acquire ecommerce systems provider Arts Technology Group (ATG) in a cash merger for $6 per share, meaning the total will come to about $1 billion. ATG primarily develops front-end systems for online merchants and e-commerce sites, including systems that provide automatic product recommendations, content personalization, merchandizing, and customer support for online storefronts. Oracle says the acquisition of ATG's front-facing services and technologies will fit easily with Oracle's existing back-end database-driven services like inventory and transaction management, customer analytics, retail management, and supply-chain management solutions.

"Organizations across many industries are looking for a unified commerce and CRM platform to provide a seamless experience across all commerce channels," said Oracle Development executive VP Thomas Kurian, in a statement. "Bringing together the complementary technologies and products from Oracle and ATG will enable the delivery of next-generation, unified cross-channel commerce and CRM."