The Lexar brand that Longsys acquired from Micron Technology will focus on high-end NAND flash devices, and customers of Lexar and Longsys' OEM business will not overlap, according to Cai Huabo, chairman for the China-based flash storage company.

The acquisition is to accelerate development of Longsys' own-brand business, said Cai, adding that the Lexar brand will focus on the high-end NAND flash market segment to avoid direct competition with Longsys' OEM customers.

Lexar following its acquisition by Longsys will remain headquartered in the US and keep its existing operations, Cai indicated. Longsys will act as a supporter of Lexar, which will operate independently, Cai said.

Lexar will also move to diversify its chip supplier base and adopt a flexible procurement strategy following its acquisition by Longsys, Cai indicated.

A management team consisting of talent serving previously for the world's leading flash storage vendors will lead the Lexar brand business to boost further its competitiveness, Cai noted.

Executives from Micron, Kingston Technology, Transcend Information and Marvell have been headhunted recently by Longsys, which is looking to enhance its management team. For example, former Micron executive Kevin Kilbuck has been hired by Longsys to lead the company's Lexar business for North America.

Lexar has already built its brand awareness in Europe and the US. To further expand its business scale, Lexar will be striving to expand its presence in China and other Asia-Pacific regions, Cai said.

The Lexar portfolio includes memory cards, USB flash drives, readers, and storage drives for retail and OEM customers. Lexar was spun off from Cirrus Logic in 1996, and was acquired by Micron in 2006. Earlier in 2017, Micron disclosed it is exploring opportunities to sell all or part of its Lexar retail removable media storage business.

Longsys specializes in the manufacture of flash-based storage devices including SSDs on an OEM or ODM basis. The company was founded as a DMS company focusing on NAND flash storage devices in 1999.