New Flash Memory Family Represents Major Milestone for Spansion; Award-Winning MirrorBit Technology Takes Another Step Forward in Price-Performance
SUNNYVALE, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—April 8, 2004—
Spansion, the world's leading producer of NOR Flash
memory solutions, today announced it has reached a significant
milestone in the integration of its operations. The first complete
family of Flash memory products developed entirely by Spansion is now
in production. The family delivers new benefits to customers worldwide
by leveraging the results of the successful integration of the memory
operations of AMD (NYSE:AMD) and Fujitsu (TSE:6702).
The arrival of the Spansion(TM) S29AL/GLxxxM device family, based
on MirrorBit(TM) technology, marks the first time since the company
was formed in July 2003 that a complete line of products has been
developed, manufactured and produced entirely by Spansion using a
single manufacturing flow through the entire production cycle. The new
family is optimized for embedded markets such as consumer electronics
including DVD players/recorders and set top boxes, as well as
industrial markets such as networking, industrial automation and
automotive electronics.
"In the nine months since Spansion's inception, we have moved
swiftly to unite the management, engineering and manufacturing
operations of AMD's and Fujitsu's memory businesses into a single,
cohesive company," said Sylvia Summers, group vice president and
general manager of Spansion's Embedded Business Unit. "I am proud to
say that the arrival of our S29AL/GLxxxM device family represents not
only a significant integration milestone for the company, but also a
positive step forward for our customers as it allows them to
accelerate their migration from floating gate to MirrorBit
technology."
The S29AL/GLxxxM product line is manufactured using 230 nanometer
MirrorBit technology, leveraging the major cost efficiencies of
depreciated fabs and includes product densities ranging from 16 to 256
Megabits. It offers customers a compelling alternative to floating
gate products by combining the features and performance they need with
a superior cost structure.
Because its efficient cell layout eliminates expensive overhead
circuitry within the memory array and reduces the number of steps
needed during fabrication, 230 nanometer MirrorBit technology delivers
a cost-structure comparable to 180 nanometer multi-level cell (MLC)
and 130 nanometer single bit-per-cell floating gate technologies. The
higher density members of this product family will migrate to
second-generation 110 nanometer MirrorBit technology to provide
customers with a compelling migration path. Production on these 110
nanometer MirrorBit technology based products is expected to begin in
the fourth quarter of this year.
This new family of devices is designed to be package, pinout, and
software compatible with the existing Am29LVxxxM and MBM29PLxxxM
product families. The S29AL/GLxxxM also offers the following
additional enhancements to the existing devices:
-- Effective word programming times reduced by as much as 35% --
Customers migrating from MBM29PLxxxM devices can expect to see
higher production line throughput.
-- Sector erase times reduced by as much as 75% -- Customers
migrating from MBM29PLxxxM devices can deploy
higher-performance parts in order to differentiate their
products against the competition.
-- Lead (Pb) Free Packaging -- Customers migrating from
Am29LVxxxM products now have the option of utilizing Pb-free
packages, which contain less than 0.1 wt.% lead, to reduce
environmental impact and help compliance efforts with
international regulations.
Spansion S29AL/GLxxxM memory devices in all densities are
available for immediate sampling. Spansion memory is available
exclusively from AMD and Fujitsu.
About Spansion(TM) Flash Memory Devices
Spansion(TM) Flash memory products encompass a broad spectrum of
densities and features to support a wide range of markets. Spansion
Flash memory customers represent leaders in the wireless, cellular,
automotive, networking, telecommunications and consumer electronics
markets. There are a variety of Spansion Flash memory products, such
as devices based on the innovative MirrorBit(TM) technology; the
award-winning simultaneous read-write (SRW) product family; super
low-voltage 1.8 volt Flash memory devices; and burst- and page-mode
devices. Information about Spansion Flash memory solutions is
available at http://www.spansion.com/overview.
Spansion was formed by the integration of AMD's and Fujitsu's
Flash memory operations in 2003. It is the largest NOR Flash memory
company in the world. Spansion Flash memory solutions are available
worldwide from AMD and Fujitsu.
On the Web
For more Spansion news and product information, please visit our
virtual pressroom at www.amd.com/news/virtualpress/index.html.
Additional press releases are available at www.amd.com/news/news.html.
Spansion and MirrorBit are trademarks of FASL LLC. AMD is a
trademark of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Other product and company
names used in this publication are for identification purposes only
and may be trademarks of their respective companies.
Contact:
Spansion Memory Products, Sunnyvale
Eric DeRitis, 408-749-2919
Public Relations
email: eric.deritis@spansion.com
