Intel invests half a billion dollars in Micron

MEMORY FIRM Micron got a cash injection of $450 million from chip giant Intel, and in return Chipzilla now owns 5.3% of shares in the firm.

Micron will use the cash to develop future DDR technology, including DDR2 and DDR3 memory. DDR2 will appear in Grantsdale chipsets probably in the second quarter of next year, and in conjunction with the future Intel “Prescott” chipset.

The US memory firm will also use the money to help it in its bid to move 12-inch wafer sizes.

Intel has also recently made investments in Japanese memory firm Elpida -- and for virtually identical reasons. The deal between Intel and Micron will also include joint research and development.

And it's all a little bit ironical. Micron and Intel's former favourite memory IP company Rambus got themselves in a spot of litigation bother over future technology. Now it seems INTC and the Boise firm are the best of buddies… µ