Intel and Micron buddy up for NAND

Intel and Micron Technology are launching a joint venture to produce NAND flash memory, with Apple prepaying $500m to secure its place in line for the popular technology, the companies said on Monday.

Intel will own 49 per cent of the new company, IM Flash Technologies, with the remaining controlling stake held by Micron. Intel and Micron will each initially contribute $1.2bn to building plants in Idaho, Utah and Virginia, with plans to add another $1.4bn each over the next three years. The joint venture is expected to be finalised by the end of the year.

Paul Otellini, Intel's chief executive, said in a statement: "The creation of this new company supports Intel's intent to maintain its industry-leading position in non-volatile memory and enables us to rapidly enter a fast-growing portion of the flash market segment."

NAND is widely used in digital cameras, photo-snapping phones and portable music players such as Apple's iPod.

Apple plans to prepay $500m to Intel and Micron as part of its $1.25bn commitment to prepay for NAND flash memory to five chipmakers. The other three chipmakers are Hynix Semiconductor, Samsung Electronics and Toshiba. This prepayment over the next three months will translate into securing NAND memory through 2010, Apple said on Monday.

Dawn Kawamoto writes for CNET News.com