SanDisk acquired in a $19 billion deal
SanDisk, the notable flash memory company is being taken over by hard-disk drive maker Western Digital. The deal has come through for a total of $19 billion in a "cash-and-stock deal." SanDisk's co-founder Mr Mehrotra will join the Western Digital board in all probability after the acquisition. This deal is being considered as one of the most significant deals in the semiconductor industry.
SanDisk: growing by leaps and bounds
SanDisk (previously known as SunDisk) was founded in 1988 by Sanjay Mehrotra, Dr. Eli Harari, and Jack Yuan. SanDisk Corporation is an American corporation that "designs, develops and manufactures flash memory storage devices and software". SanDisk is the "third-largest manufacturer" of flash memory cards in the world with its products being sold in more than 100 countries across the world.
Entry into the Indian sub-continent
SanDisk entered the Indian arena in 2006 "with 2,000 stores scheduled to be opened and increased to 14,000-plus by the end of 2007."
SanDisk's string of acquisitions
In 2006, SanDisk made its first acquisition of M-Systems Ltd followed by Matrix Semiconductor Inc. After a 5-year gap, SanDisk took over Pliant Technology, Inc. and FlashSoft Corporation (caching software producer) in 2012. SanDisk obtained SMART Storage Systems in 2013. Its biggest win came in 2014 with the acquisition of Fusion-io Inc., a "leading developer of flash-based PCIe hardware and software solutions".
SanDisk placed amongst Top100 Nasdaq performers
In October 2015, SanDisk was listed amongst the Top 100 Nasdaq performers by Bloomberg Business.
Partnership with Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard advertised an arrangement to jointly develop "Storage Class Memory" (SCM) with SanDisk. SanDisk said that the non-volatile memory technology resulting from this deal was presumed to be "up to 1,000 times faster while offering up to 1,000 times more endurance than flash storage". The two companies will also be partnering in improving "data center solutions with Solid State Drives (SSDs)."
Why Toshiba won't let Micron acquire SanDisk?
Market analysts believe that SanDisk's partner company Toshiba would give its blessings to Western Digital and not its rival memory chip maker Micron. If Micron, which owns its private foundries were to buy SanDisk, Toshiba could lose a lot its business. Micron has a viable niche in the 'NAND-flash memory' business and an alliance with SanDisk will greatly increase the competition for Toshiba.
Why SanDisk needs Toshiba's approval?
SanDisk employs Toshiba's foundries to manufacture its chips and the two organizations have an essential "intellectual property-sharing joint venture" which makes Toshiba's approval a necessity.
SanDisk rules India's storage flash memory market
A report published by the consultancy firm CyberMedia Research (CMR) confirmed that SanDisk, California-based storage solutions provider ruled the Indian "consumer storage flash memory" business during 2015's second quarter. SanDisk's business shares grew from the previous quarter's 27 percent to 35 percent in the quarter under review in terms of unit shipments. The 8GB segment remained its biggest contributor in terms of capacity.
