Semiconductor & Technology Specialist, Ingenuity

William Keating

Semiconductor & Technology Specialist

Ingenuity

Our focus is exclusively on in-depth research & consulting in the broader semiconductor industry. We focus on the key players, namely Intel, Micron, Qualcomm, Apple, Samsung, NVIDIA, AMD, TSMC & Global Foundries - as well as some of the lesser known, but nonetheless critical, companies such as ASML (for EUV), Mellanox, Cavium, Xilinx etc. We specialise in their products, roadmaps, process technologies, competitive advantages & threats etc. We also help our clients understand the implications of new and emerging technologies, e.g. 3D X-Point, 3D NAND, Carbon Nanotubes, Autonomous Driving, Graphene, Silicon Photonics, Wafer-Level Optics, Artificial Intelligence, FPGA, GPU, ASIC etc. 

Semiconductor Analysis & Research

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

While DRAM and NAND Flash, and to a lesser extent NOR Flash, rightly garner the lion’s share of media and investor attention, multiple competing so-called emerging memory technologies have hit the headlines many times over the past two decades, usually promising imminent breakthroughs but rarely, if ever, delivering on those promises. These emerging memory technologies have been conceived to address shortcomings with either or both DRAM and NAND, typically factors associated with read/write speed, endurance (number of read/write cycles), susceptibility to data loss due to electric fields, radiation etc. Their development was also spurred on by the mistaken belief that both DRAM and NAND were reaching fundamental scaling limits and that replacement memory technologies would soon be required.As it turned out, DRAM continued to scale successfully below 20 nm with a clear line of sight to continue doing so for at least another 5 years. At the same time, vertical scaling to 3D has successfully ensured the longevity of NAND, with the ability to continue adding layers through string-stacking for the foreseeable future. While these innovations, along with developments such as Hybrid Memory Cube and High Bandwidth Memory,  have alleviated some of the shorter term drivers for the development of new memory technologies, interest in emerging memories continues unabated and the sector has made some promising progress in the past year.Perhaps the most interesting development has been 3D Xpoint, the much-heralded, new form of phase-change memory co-developed by Intel &amp; Micron. A second and equally interesting development has been the number of partnerships announced between emerging memory companies and mainstream foundries- the idea being to license the memory technology on leading process nodes so that it can be incorporated as niche or specialty memory in their customer's designs. In reality, this is an evolution of a long-time practice of the foundries licensing an older, more traditional form of memory IP called logic non-volatile memory. Thirdly, two of the most prominent emerging memory companies, one public and one private,  replaced their CEO's in 2017, a sign perhaps of growing shareholder frustration with the lack of tangible progress in recent years. In this Insight, we review all of the leading emerging memory technologies as well as the recent developments just mentioned. We look at the leading emerging memory companies and share our perspective on how their technologies are like to fare out in the coming years.

While DRAM and NAND Flash, and to a lesser extent NOR Flash, rightly garner the lion’s share of media and investor attention, multiple competing so-called emerging memory technologies have hit the headlines many times over the past two decades, usually promising imminent breakthroughs but rarely, if ever, delivering on those promises. These emerging memory technologies have been conceived to address shortcomings with either or both DRAM and NAND, typically factors associated with read/write speed, endurance (number of read/write cycles), susceptibility to data loss due to electric fields, radiation etc. Their development was also spurred on by the mistaken belief that both DRAM and NAND were reaching fundamental scaling limits and that replacement memory technologies would soon be required.As it turned out, DRAM continued to scale successfully below 20 nm with a clear line of sight to continue doing so for at least another 5 years. At the same time, vertical scaling to 3D has successfully ensured the longevity of NAND, with the ability to continue adding layers through string-stacking for the foreseeable future. While these innovations, along with developments such as Hybrid Memory Cube and High Bandwidth Memory,  have alleviated some of the shorter term drivers for the development of new memory technologies, interest in emerging memories continues unabated and the sector has made some promising progress in the past year.Perhaps the most interesting development has been 3D Xpoint, the much-heralded, new form of phase-change memory co-developed by Intel &amp; Micron. A second and equally interesting development has been the number of partnerships announced between emerging memory companies and mainstream foundries- the idea being to license the memory technology on leading process nodes so that it can be incorporated as niche or specialty memory in their customer's designs. In reality, this is an evolution of a long-time practice of the foundries licensing an older, more traditional form of memory IP called logic non-volatile memory. Thirdly, two of the most prominent emerging memory companies, one public and one private,  replaced their CEO's in 2017, a sign perhaps of growing shareholder frustration with the lack of tangible progress in recent years. In this Insight, we review all of the leading emerging memory technologies as well as the recent developments just mentioned. We look at the leading emerging memory companies and share our perspective on how their technologies are like to fare out in the coming years.

A Brief Analysis Of The Latest Emerging & Speciality Memory Technologies

Merger Arbitrage, Relative Value, Event-Driven

Per Gullberg, CFA, FRM, CAIA

Event-Driven

Panasonic Information System / Event-Driven

On 3 Feb after market close, Panasonic Corp (6752 JP; Panasonic) <a href="https://www.release.tdnet.info/inbs/140120150203017772.pdf" target="_blank">announced</a>&nbsp;that it will turn Panasonic Information Systems (4283 JP; Pana IS) into a wholly owned subsidiary. The transaction will be implemented through a short-form share exchange, meaning that only target shareholder approval is required. The acquiror will be allowed to vote its 64% stake at the target shareholder meeting, meaning that the 2/3rds threshold is a non-issue.

On 3 Feb after market close, Panasonic Corp (6752 JP; Panasonic) announced&nbsp;that it will turn Panasonic Information Systems (4283 JP; Pana IS) into a wholly owned subsidiary. The transaction will be implemented through a short-form share exchange, meaning that only target shareholder approval is required. The acquiror will be allowed to vote its 64% stake at the target shareholder meeting, meaning that the 2/3rds threshold is a non-issue.

Panasonic IS to be taken private in share swap

Japan

Panasonic Information Systems Co. Ltd. manufactures and distributes software products. The Company produces computer softwares, packaged softwares, and other products. Panasonic Information Systems also offers information network services.

Price Gauge
52-week Range	0.00 - 0.00
Market Cap (USDm)	0.00
P/E	0.00
Dividend (Yield)	0.00

Panasonic Information System (4283 JP)

A Brief Analysis Of The Latest Emerging & Speciality Memory Technologies

While DRAM and NAND Flash, and to a lesser extent NOR Flash, rightly garner the lion’s share of media and investor attention, multiple competing...

William Keating

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)

A Brief Analysis Of The Latest Emerging & Speciality Memory Technologies

While DRAM and NAND Flash, and to a lesser extent NOR Flash, rightly garner the lion’s share of media and investor attention, multiple competing...

William Keating

Panasonic IS to be taken private in share swap

On 3 Feb after market close, Panasonic Corp (6752 JP; Panasonic) announced that it will turn Panasonic Information Systems (4283 JP; Pana IS) into...

Per Gullberg, CFA, FRM, CAIA