Memory: fear grows about a possible bankruptcy of Elpida, 17/02/2012 - Your reactions

[machmeter]

Elpida, a japanese memory manufacturer officially announced being in a desperate financial situation and unable to repay its debt held both by private holders and the japanese state. If this company was sinking, it would not be a first as Qimonda disappeared in 2009. There is however a major difference between these two companies because when it went down, Qimonda had used up all its potential, it was not investing in R&D and was therefore unable to offer great products.
On the other side, Elpida is not in that situation and is still able to manufacture memory using the finest manufacturing process. If it was to go bankrupt, it would have important consequences on the market as its customers would have to go to its competitors, but their number is shrinking.
Elpida has a share comprised between 12 and 17% on market of RAM, if it was disappearing, there would be only 3 main manufacturers left, Samsung, Hynix and Micron. At that point, the price of RAM modules would probably increase and innovation would slow down.
By Machmeter, original by Lionel