Intel and Micron to End 3D Xpoint Partnership
Micron and Intel are announcing
that they will end their joint development efforts on 3D Xpoint . This is the
latest update to the Intel/Micron Partnership and IM Flash
Intel and Micron will develop
technologies independently after the second generation which is due out in
2019. All current products are first generation
Some thoughts
Intel and Micron continue to
separate business. NAND development partnership has ended and now Xpoint
partnership will end quickly. The Fab is still jointly owned but Micron has options and has begun to document procedures and financing for ending the JV Fab agreement in their 10Q report.
side note: once you decide to not work together in the future, you stop working together in the present. Most likely every development and exchange of information will include a pre-analysis by attorneys. So it is safer to say that Intel and Micron are competitors and not partners today.
Intel is losing money on 3D
Xpoint due to sales being below forecast, and costs are higher than the sales price. Micron is losing
money on 3D Xpoint due to underload charges as they do not have a product and Intel is no longer buying from Micron as Intel doesn't need the output due to the previously mentioned poor sales
This decision is good for Micron as
Micron has multiple options if Xpoint takes off or not and no anchor of future
spending. Micron can buy out Intel from the Fab in Lehi at any time after Jan 2019 and run Xpoint, NAND, DRAM, or sell stuff to Intel. Micron is covered with options for either an upside or a downside in the 3D XPoint market and has leverage over Intel. Options are good
As publicly stated, Intels goal is to improve storage and memory capacity in datacenters using Optane products and NAND SSDs. Intel can provide unique solutions that give Intel a competitive advantage on all servers. If Optane ends up in 50% of servers, the market is huge.... but we are not there (or even close) yet. If it becomes ubiquitous (a term I learned working at Intel), Micron wins by be a licensed source for Xpoint and with the partnerships Micron has in server world.
Another result for Intel is that Intel can win as a company selling Optane at a loss (more processors, more servers, bigger moat). Micron cannot. But Intel needs to significantly improve sales to make this worthwhile
We will see what the possible next announcements are:
1) Lehi Fab decision ?
2) Micron announces a new NVM technology that they have been working on independent of Intel ??? (like when they announced their charge trap NAND)
3) Intel announces new partnership for developing and ramping Xpoint?
OR this could all get reversed.... a year ago Toshiba and WDC were in lawsuits, refusing to talk, locking engineers out of Fabs, and generally shaming eachother in public. Today they are one big consortium owned NAND Fab family. Maybe my friends at Micron and Intel will reconcile!
We will present technical status of XPoint revenue, endurance, speed, and configuration at FMS next month.
#optane, #Flashmem
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BOISE, Idaho, and SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 16, 2018 – Micron and Intel today announced an update to their 3D XPoint™ joint development partnership, which has resulted in the development of an entirely new class of non-volatile memory with dramatically lower latency and exponentially greater endurance than NAND memory.
The companies have agreed to complete joint development for the second generation of 3D XPoint technology, which is expected to occur in the first half of 2019. Technology development beyond the second generation of 3D XPoint technology will be pursued independently by the two companies in order to optimize the technology for their respective product and business needs.
The two companies will continue to manufacture memory based on 3D XPoint technology at the Intel-Micron Flash Technologies (IMFT) facility in Lehi, Utah.
“Micron has a strong track record of innovation with 40 years of world-leading expertise in memory technology development, and we will continue driving the next generations of 3D XPoint technology,” said Scott DeBoer, executive vice president of Technology Development at Micron. “We are excited about the products that we are developing based on this advanced technology, which will allow our customers to take advantage of unique memory and storage capabilities. By developing 3D XPoint technology independently, Micron can better optimize the technology for our product roadmap while maximizing the benefits for our customers and shareholders.”
“Intel has developed a leadership position delivering a broad portfolio of Optane products across client and data center markets with strong support from our customers,” said Rob Crooke, senior vice president and general manager of Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group at Intel Corporation. “Intel Optane’s direct connection to the world’s most advanced computing platforms is achieving breakthrough results in IT and consumer applications. We intend to build on this momentum and extend our leadership with Optane, which combined with our high-density 3D NAND technology offers the best solutions for today’s computing and storage needs.”
