|
TOKYO, August 18, 2003 - Elpida Memory, Inc. (Elpida), a leading provider of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), and Kingston Technology Corporation ("Kingston"), the parent company of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the world's largest independent manufacturer of memory products, today announced that they have signed a business agreement in which Kingston will invest 6 Billion Yen (approximately US$50 million*) in Elpida Memory in exchange for non-voting stock. Additional information about the agreement was not disclosed.
"This investment shows Kingston's commitment to work with DRAM technology leaders such as Elpida," said David Sun, cofounder and COO of Kingston Technology. "Elpida's technology complements Kingston's strong memory product offering further enabling our capability to provide continuous volume commitments to all our global customers. We intend to continue our strategic relationship with Elpida, both as a consumer of their products and also as a module assembly and test sub-contractor."
"Kingston is an important solutions provider for the DRAM industry, and this investment marks another achievement in Elpida's strategic plan to grow our business," said Yukio Sakamoto, president of Elpida Memory. "Elpida plans to utilize a portion of the investment to increase production of leading-edge products such as DDR400 and DDR2 at its 300mm fab in Hiroshima, Japan."
About Elpida Memory, Inc.
Elpida Memory, Inc. is a manufacturer of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) with headquarters based in Tokyo, Japan, and sales and marketing operations located in Japan, North America, Europe and Asia. Elpida offers a broad range of leading-edge DRAM products. Elpida is a joint venture company formed by NEC and Hitachi on December 20, 1999. Elpida has been in operation since April 2000.
About Kingston Technology Company, Inc.
Headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., Kingston Technology Company, Inc. is the world's largest independent manufacturer of memory products for desktop computers, notebooks, servers, workstations, laser printers, digital cameras and palm-top computers. Kingston provides contract manufacturing for most of the large semiconductor OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer), several system OEMs, and supports large OEMs with supply chain management services. The company also has sister companies in the component packaging (Payton Technology), and test and validation test lab (AVL) sectors. For more information, please visit www.kingston.com.
* Based on the August 18, 2003 exchange rate of $1.00 (USD) equals 119.25 (JPY).
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. |
