Elpida, Sharp to co-develop next-gen memory chip

TOKYO, JAPAN: Japan's Elpida Memory Inc, the world's No. 3 maker of DRAM chips, said on Wednesday it and Sharp Corp are co-developing a next-generation memory chip, aiming to commercialise it in 2013.

The ReRAM or resistive random access memory chip consumes less power and is capable of writing data about 10,000 times faster than NAND flash memory, which is widely used in mobile devices. It can also retain data when the power is shut off.

Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) is supporting the effort, in which the University of Tokyo is also taking part, an Elpida spokesman said.

Chipmakers have been racing to develop next-generation memory that may eventually replace DRAM and NAND chips.

DRAM (dynamic random access memory) is currently used mainly for PCs, while NAND chips are found in mobile phones and digital cameras. The ReRAM chip offers advantages over both of these, the spokesman said.

Toshiba Corp, Japan's biggest chipmaker, is working on a new type of flash memory with a layered structure and Samsung Electronics Co, Elpida's bigger rival in the DRAM sector, is developing several of them, including ReRAM and PRAM, or phase-change random access memory.

Shares in Elpida were up 0.9 percent at 894 yen, while Sharp gained 0.5 percent to 828 yen. The benchmark Nikkei average .N225 rose 1.1 percent.