Micron Technology has offered a program dubbed "Product Longevity Program (PLP)" to secure 10-year steady supply of memory products of the same specification, including NOR flash, low-capacity NAND flash and DRAM solutions, for existing clients, according to Jeff Bader, senior director of marketing for Micron's embedded group.
Bader pointed out that customers in the automotive, industrial, medical and networking fields are willing to pay high prices to secure sufficient supplies of embedded memory solutions used in their products. The program is to guarantee a stable product supply from Micron, Bader added.
Bader also revealed that Micron is looking to migrate to 45nm process technology for NOR production. Its current NOR production process is 65nm.
Implementing the PLP would pevent Micron's clients from shifting to competitors for supplies of serial NOR flash memory, industry sources believe. Micron is also looking to sign contracts for serial flash solutions with new clients through promoting its PLP, the sources said.
NOR flash companies including Micron are all aware that demand for serial flash memory has been rising thanks to growing adoption among consumer products such as smartphones. Serial flash is also being adopted in car-use electronics, industrial and networking applications.
Acknowledging the growing market for serial flash memory, Spansion, Macronix International and Winbond Electronics are all gearing up for a bigger slice of the pie.