ISRAEL 
HIGH-TECH & INVESTMENT REPORT

from the January 2005 issue


Saifun Inks Major Contract with Sony


Saifun Semiconductors has announced the obtaining of a contract estimated to be valued at hundreds of millions of dollars with the Japanese electronics conglomerate Sony. Sony plans to use the Israeli company's flash memory technology in all its mobile devices, ranging from MP3 players to digital cameras.

The Sony agreement along with two other deals Saifun signed in recent years with Fujitsu-AMD and Infineon are expected to yield hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties and other revenues in the coming decade for the Netanya-based firm.

Saifun was established in 1997 by former combat pilot and serial entrepreneur Boaz Eitan. The company develops technology that quadruples memory capacity in serial flash memory devices. Previous technologies store one bit of memory on each cell, while Saifun's technology has two- to four-bit capacity per cell. Saifun's non-volatile memory, can be used not only in mobile devices, but also in electronic appliances and newer large household appliances, such as refrigerators, washing machines and flat-screen TVs, that will begin using memory chips in the next few years. Saifun is planning to go public on the Nasdaq exchange at a company value of $400-$500 million, and the Sony contract's timing is likely to attract investors. "This technology will keep Saifun at the center of achievement for the long term, allowing for continued relationships with giant concerns to which Saifun has already granted licenses to use various technologies we developed, including Fujitsu and AMD.


Reprinted from the Israel High-Tech & Investment Report january 2005

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