SEOUL: South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor said on Wednesday it will conclude
alliance talks with US rival Micron Technology in January, amid hopes for a deal
to reduce a global glut in memory chips.
"We have been engaged in talks (with Micron) for segregation and
strategic investment in the memory and non-memory chip businesses," Hynix
President Park Chong-sup said in an e-mail to employees, which the company
released to the media. "We'll decide whether to sign an agreement in
January."
Cash-strapped Hynix may sell operations making the most common types of
dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips to Micron, a company official said
last Friday. Micron and Hynix rank second and third in the computer memory
sector, and an alliance could re-shape the industry as their combined output
capacity exceeds leader Samsung Electronics Co.
The Chosun Ilbo newspaper on Friday, citing a Hynix source, said if Hynix
sold DRAM facilities, in return it would expect a stake in Micron, as well as
cash or an equity investment from the US company. Hynix has been saved from
collapse by creditors twice this year and is seeking to sell chip plants and
other assets to raise more funds.
(C) Reuters Limited.