Micron Technology

Micron Technology, Inc.
Public
S&P 500 Component
NASDAQ-100 Component
Traded as NASDAQ: MU
Industry Semiconductors
Founded May 22, 1978 (May 22, 1978)
Headquarters Boise, Idaho, United States.
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Mark Durcan (CEO)
Mark Adams (President)
Products DRAM, Flash memory, Solid state drives
Revenue Increase$16.358 billion (2014)[1]
Increase$3.087 billion (2014)[1]
Profit Increase$3.045 billion (2014)[1]
Total assets Increase$22.498 billion (2014)[1]
Total equity Increase$11.573 billion (2014)[1]
Number of employees
 30,000+ (2014)
Subsidiaries Lexar Media
Website www.micron.com

Micron Technology, Inc. is an American multinational corporation based in Boise, Idaho which produces many forms of semiconductor devices, including dynamic random-access memory, flash memory, and solid-state drives. Its consumer products are marketed under the brands Crucial Technology and Lexar. Micron and Intel together created IM Flash Technologies, which produces NAND flash memory. Micron was named one of Thomson Reuters top 100 global innovators in 2012 [2] and 2013.[3] Micron Technology is also ranked among the Top 5 Semiconductor producing companies in the world.

History

1978–1999

Micron was founded in Boise, Idaho, in 1978[4] by Ward Parkinson, Joe Parkinson, Dennis Wilson, and Doug Pitman as a semiconductor design consulting company.[5] Startup funding was provided by local Idaho businessmen Tom Nicholson, Allen Noble, Rudolph Nelson, and Ron Yanke. Later it received funding from Idaho billionaire J. R. Simplot, whose fortune was made in the potato business. In 1981, its first wafer fabrication unit ("Fab 1") with 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2) of space was completed and Micron started producing 64K DRAM chips. A second fab was completed in late 1984 to produce 256K DRAM chips.[4]

In 1994, founder Joe Parkinson retired as CEO and Steve Appleton took over as Chairman, President, and CEO.[4]

ZEOS International, Micron Computer, and Micron Custom Manufacturing Services (MCMS) merged in 1996 to become Micron Electronics.[4]

In 1997 Micron Technology acquired NetFrame Systems Incorporated. With this acquisition they attempted to enter the mid-range server industry.

2000–present

In 2002, armed with the Sherman Antitrust Act, the United States Department of Justice began a probe into the activities of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) manufacturers. U.S. computer makers, including Dell and Gateway, claimed that inflated DRAM pricing was causing lost profits and hindering their effectiveness in the marketplace. To date, five manufacturers have pleaded guilty to their involvement in an international price-fixing conspiracy. These manufacturers are Hynix, Infineon, Micron Technology, Samsung, and Elpida. Micron Technology was not fined for its involvement, due to cooperation with investigators.[6]

In 2005, Micron and Intel announced their agreement to form a new company, IM Flash Technologies in Lehi, Utah. The joint-venture would manufacture NAND Flash for both companies.[7]

In June 2007, Steve Appleton gave up the title of President to COO Mark Durcan.

In March 2008, Micron launched Aptina Imaging, a spin-off of its CMOS Image Sensor Division (currently part of ON Semiconductor). Aptina Imaging was partially sold to a group including TPG and Riverwood Capital, and became an independent, privately held company in July 2009. Micron remains a partial owner in the company.[8]

On October 9, 2008, Micron announced a restructuring of its memory operations, with plans to reduce its global workforce by approximately 15 percent. Most of the layoffs were targeted for its headquarters in Boise, due to the elimination of a NAND-memory supply agreement. On October 12, the company announced the purchase of Qimonda's stake in Inotera technologies for $400 million.

On February 23, 2009, Micron announced that it would phase out 200mm wafer production operations at its Boise facility, resulting in the loss of an additional 2,000 jobs. In May 2009, the company acquired the FLCOS microdisplay company Displaytech.

On February 10, 2010, Micron agreed to buy flash-chip maker Numonyx for about $1.27 billion. Micron will issue 140 million shares to Numonyx investors: Intel Corporation, STMicroelectronics and Francisco Partners.

In April 2011, Micron and Intel opened a second joint-venture NAND Flash plant, IM Flash Singapore, in Singapore.[9]

On February 3, 2012, the CEO, Steve Appleton, died in a small Lancair plane crash in Boise, Idaho.[10][11][12] The president of Micron at the time, Mark Durcan, replaced Appleton as the CEO shortly thereafter.[13]

On February 23, 2012, Micron Technology will become the largest shareholder of Inotera Memories, a major DRAM (dynamic random access memory) maker in Taiwan, after fully subscribing 763 million shares issued by Inotera for a capital increment of NT$5 billion via private placement.

On February 28, 2012, Micron and Intel announced that they would expand their NAND Flash memory joint venture relationship, to increase the flexibility and efficiency of the joint venture. Intel would sell its stake in IM Flash Singapore to Micron, along with its share of IM Flash Technologies assets in Micron's plant in Manassas, Virginia.[14] As a result, IM Flash Singapore became wholly owned by Micron and became its fourth facility in Singapore.[15]

On July 2, 2012, Micron announced they would buy, for $2.5 billion, the bankrupt Elpida Memory, as well as an additional 24% share (in addition to the 65% acquired through Elpida) in Rexchip Electronics from Powerchip.[16] The move is reported to double Micron's share of the memory market to 24%.[17] Kipp Bedard of Micron has said that this move leaves only his company and two South Korean firms as serious DRAM producers and with no additional supply coming into the market there would be no more oversupply, while growth in mobile, networking and servers would drive the market in the future.[18]

In December 2012, the company confirmed reports that it is planning to close its plant in Kiryat Gat, Israel, which employs 1,300 workers. In 2015 company's lab is still working in Kiryat Gat.[19]

In August 2013, Micron made public it would take steps to cut 5% of its workforce worldwide within August 2014, involving about 1500 employees.

On January 7, 2014, Micron announced "revenues in the first quarter of fiscal 2014 were $4.04 billion and were 42 percent higher compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 and 120 percent higher compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2013".[20]

On January 20, 2014 (less than 4 years after the acquisition of Numonyx, 1000 employees in Italy), Micron announced the lay off of the 40% of its Italian workforce (419 employees, almost one third of the overall announced worldwide cuts).

In April 2014, Micron's Hybrid Memory Cube was named Memory Product of the Year by EE Times and EDN.

On October 2, 2015, Micron bought Tidal Systems, an SSD controller company.[21]

Micron announced in February 2016 that it is upping 3D NAND production and that its 3D NAND technology is now available in 2 bit per cell flash memory (MLC), as well as three bit per cell (TLC) 3D flash memory.[22]

Products

Micron makes DRAM Memory components and modules, including SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, DDR2 SDRAM, DDR3 SDRAM, DDR4 SDRAM, LPDRAM, RLDRAM, PSRAM, and multi-chip packages. It also makes NAND, Managed NAND and NOR flash memory, and SSDs. Lexar and Crucial are some of the most popular brands the company uses to distribute its products.

In late 2009, the company was the first to announce a solid-state drive (SSD) using a 6 Gbit/s SATA interface.[23]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Micron Technology: Form 10-K : ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the fiscal year ended August 28, 2014", Securities and Exchange Commission
  2. ↑ "Top 100 Global innovators 2012". Thompson Reuters. 2012-12-04. Retrieved 2012-04-16.
  3. ↑ "Top 100 Global innovators 2013". Thompson Reuters. 2013-11-01. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Micron Company Milestones". Micron. Retrieved 2012-06-07.
  5. ↑ Allan, Roy A. (2001). A history of the personal computer: the people and the technology. Allan Publishing. p. 16. ISBN 0-9689108-0-7. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
  6. ↑ Samsung Agrees to Plead Guilty
  7. ↑ Intel, Micron to form flash-chip venture
  8. ↑ Aptina boosts image; embraces foundries // EETimes, 4/12/2011
  9. ↑ Intel, Micron Open Singapore NAND Flash Plant
  10. ↑ Micron says CEO Steve Appleton has died in a Boise plane crash, The Washington Post, February 3, 2012.
  11. ↑ Statement by Micron Technology Board of Directors, Micron Technology, February 3, 2012.
  12. ↑ Micron Tech CEO Dies in Plane Accident, Shara Tibken, Don Clark, The Wall Street Journal, February 3, 2012.
  13. ↑ http://www.micron.com/about/company-info/leadership/d-mark-durcan
  14. ↑ Intel, Micron Update NAND Flash Memory Joint Venture
  15. ↑ IM Flash Singapore is now Micron
  16. ↑ Micron and Elpida Announce Sponsor Agreement
  17. ↑ Micron to buy major Apple supplier Elpida, takes on Samsung
  18. ↑ "Then there were 3: Micron slowly 'wipes out' NAND flash rivals."
  19. ↑ Micron may shut Israel plant by 2015
  20. ↑ http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/ABEA-45YXOQ/2919313139x0x716922/919eb165-613c-492a-8acb-f578ef2a0c67/MU_News_2014_1_7_Corporate_News.pdf
  21. ↑ Ramseyer, Chris (October 2, 2015). "Micron Gains SSD Controller Technology Through Tidal Systems Aquisition[sic]". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved October 10, 2015.
  22. ↑ By Tom Coughlin, Forbes. “Micron Will Ship 3D Flash Memory.” February 12, 2016. February 19, 2016.
  23. ↑ Ng, Jansen (2009-12-02). "Micron Announces World's First Native 6Gbps SATA Solid State Drive". DailyTech. Retrieved 2009-12-02.

External links

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