Memory chipmakers

Apparently, some people still hope that Qimonda has a future. To safeguard Germany's access to strategic technology and all that.

Today's FT has an interesting snippet under the heading "Taiwanese chipmakers" (apparently, the Taiwanese government wants to merge the six loss-making Taiwanese chipmakers - some of them basically bankrupt and crying out for government funds - into one national champion with a 22 % share of the world-market): The article mentions that 9 of the top 10 DRAM suppliers of the year 1990 no longer exist. It doesn't say if they got acquired, or simply shut down. But the simple fact sure says something about the challenging economics of the memory chip business...

By the way, the chip industry is yet another one of Singapore's strategic bets that pretty much failed: Like all chipmakers, Chartered Semiconductors is also deep in the red, and not for the first time. So many crown jewels in Temasek's treasure chest!