News Article
AMD to spin-off loss-making flash joint venture
US-based Spansion - a flash maker owned jointly by AMD (60%) and Fujitsu (40%) - has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The move is widely seen as an attempt by AMD to offload the loss-making company.
US-based Spansion - a flash maker owned jointly by AMD (60%) and Fujitsu (40%) - has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The move is widely seen as an attempt by AMD to offload the loss-making company.
Although AMD and Spansion were jointly the worlds second largest flash producer in 2004 (according to preliminary figures from market analyst iSuppli), the two companies have been hit hard by a flash price war initiated by AMDs fierce rival Intel. The NOR flash memory that Spansion makes for mobiles phones is also falling out of favour, as companies opt for the rival NAND flash memory.
Such problems contributed to a US$17 million loss for AMD in its latest quarter (see Company news). Spansion had sales of around US$2.4 billion in 2004, giving it approximately 15% of the global flash market.
Although AMD and Spansion were jointly the worlds second largest flash producer in 2004 (according to preliminary figures from market analyst iSuppli), the two companies have been hit hard by a flash price war initiated by AMDs fierce rival Intel. The NOR flash memory that Spansion makes for mobiles phones is also falling out of favour, as companies opt for the rival NAND flash memory.
Such problems contributed to a US$17 million loss for AMD in its latest quarter (see Company news). Spansion had sales of around US$2.4 billion in 2004, giving it approximately 15% of the global flash market.
