Qimonda
 | |
| Company type | Aktiengesellschaft (NYSE: QI) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Semiconductors |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Headquarters |  Munich, Germany |
Key people | Kin Wah Loh, CEO |
| Products | DRAM |
| Revenue |  US$4.89 billion (2006) |
Number of employees | approximately 6,000 (no official figures updated since restructuring Oct 2008 |
| Website | http://www.qimonda.com |
Qimonda AG (NYSE: QI), (pronounced "key-MON-da") is a memory company split out of Infineon Technologies on 1 May 2006, to form at the time the second largest DRAM company worldwide, according to the industry research firm Gartner Dataquest. Gartner now ranks Qimonda as the fourth largest DRAM manufacturer (Nov. 2008). Qimonda is predominantly a 300 mm manufacturer, and is one of the top suppliers of DRAM products for the PC and server markets. Infineon still controls a 77.5% stake, which, for financial purposes, it has written down (2008). Infineon is on record as having the aim of divesting itself of this stake, with the purpose of becoming a minority stakeholder in 2009.
Qimonda employed approximately 13,500 worldwide, including 1,800 in R&D with access to four 300 mm manufacturing sites and operated six major R&D facilities, including its lead R&D center in Dresden on three continents before global restructuring announced in October 2008. The restructuring saw the sale of its major 300mm manufacuring site (Inotera, Taiwan) to its rival, Micron Technology, for approximately $400m in cash. Additionally, CEO Kin Wah Loh announced the closure by January 2009 of the company's single remaining 200mm manufacturing site in Richmond, Virginia. Other restructuring included the complete closure of the Raleigh R&D facility and the termination of the back-end component and module manufacturing site in Dresden. Altogether, approximately 3000 employees will be made redundant by the changes (excluding the Micron buy-out of Inotera).
With a historical emphasis on PC and server products, the company is now focusing on products for graphics, mobile and consumer applications using its power-saving trench technology. Qimonda AG is based in Munich, Germany. The company has issued 42 million ADR shares, each ADR share representing one ordinary share in Qimonda. On Jan 23, 2009, the company filed for bankruptcy protection. [1] [2]
Meaning Of Qimonda
"Qimonda" is an invented name, which falls into the "evocative" class by branding agencies. These names are designed to evoke the qualities of the product or company rather than explain the actual goods or services the company supplies. Along with the new name, the company supplies an explanation of it's meaning: "The name and brand identity of Qimonda express the philosophy and personality of the company, illustrating its vision and values. The word “Qimonda” carries different meanings and allows associations in different languages. In Chinese, “Qi” stands for breathing and flowing energy, while “monda” denotes “world” in Latin-based languages. "Qi", when pronounced as a hard "k", suggests “key to the world”, a positive connotation."
Achievements/Developments
Qimonda was among the first DRAM suppliers to transition a substantial portion of the manufacturing to 300 mm technology. Approximately 2/3 of the DRAM bits shipped are manufactured using 300 mm wafers [citation needed]. All 200mm manufacturing will end by Jan 2009.
On September 18th, 2006 Qimonda AG along with Nanya Technology Corporation announced the successful qualification of the 75nm DRAM trench technology. Process structures of 75nm further reduce chip size compared to the previous 90nm technology thereby increasing potential chip output per wafer by about 40 percent [1].
On November 1st, 2007 Qimonda AG announced shipment of first GDDR5 samples [2].
On September 16th, 2008 Qimonda North America (QNA) announced that no funding would be issued for merit increases or promotions as part of the year-end appraisal process.
On October 27th, 2008 Qimonda North America (QNA) announced that the approved incentive payments due to be paid to employees that month had been postponed until January 16th, 2009 for Richmond employees and February 13th, 2009 for QNA-direct employees.
On October 28th, 2008 Qimonda AG achieved the lowest share price of USD 0.19 on NYSE.
On November 24th, 2008 Qimonda AG achieved the lowest share price of USD 0.05 on NYSE.
In December, 2008 Qimonda North America announced mandatory unpaid leave for all employees at its Richmond site amounting to a 10% salary reduction for exempt staff and approximately 15% reduction for non-exempt employees. The mandatory unpaid leave is expected to last until the beginning of April 2009.
On January 23, 2009 Qimonda filed for insolvency.
Alliances
Qimonda's strategic alliance with Nanya Technology Corporation (e.g. the joint-venture Inotera) ended shortly before the buy-out by rival chip-maker Micron Technology when Nanya declined the offer of joint development of Qimonda's Buried Wordline Technology. Inotera will continue to supply DRAM to Qimonda until approximately mid-2009. Qimonda has other strategic alliances with China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park Venture Co., Ltd., SMIC, Winbond Electronics Corporation, IBM, Altis, AMD (for ATI graphics products), Toppan Photomasks, Spansion, and Sandisk. 23/01/2009 Qimonda AG, the german mother company of the group, filled a bankrupty suit in the german courts.
Products
Qimonda is primarily reliant on its Deep Trench technology in comparison to the stack capacitor systems of its rival manufacturers. Deep Trench has the benefit of a theoretically smaller footprint than its stack capacitor rival. With approximately one-third lower power consumption due to lower leakage currents, its natural advantages lie in mobile and laptop applications where power supply is a limiting factor. Although offering significant advantages, deep trench technology is technically difficult to manufacture and has led to slippage of Qimonda's technology shrink roadmap in comparison to many of its rivals in recent years.
In 2008, Qimonda announced the development of its Buried Wordline Technology. Retaining many of the advantages of Deep Trench technology, in theory it simplifies the manufacturing process and once again provides Qimonda with a competitive technology shrink roadmap.
External links
- Qimonda website
- Qimonda stock on NYSE
- Nintendo Wii game console uses Qimonda GDDR3 graphics RAM
- Microsoft Xbox 360 game console uses Qimonda graphics RAM
Notes
Competitors