Qimonda
More info
- Released
- 2006–2009
- Owner
- Infineon (majority)
- Type
- DRAM manufacturer
Infineon's spun-off DRAM maker, which managed an IPO and an insolvency in under three years.
Infineon carved out its memory division in 2006 and listed it on the NYSE that same year as Qimonda, headquartered in Munich with a fab in Dresden. It was one of the larger DRAM producers in the world and bet on its own cell design, buried wordline, which promised smaller and more power-efficient memory cells.
The technology was good; the timing wasn't. DRAM prices collapsed in 2007–2008, the financial crisis did the rest, and in January 2009 Qimonda filed for insolvency after talks over a state rescue from Saxony fell apart. That left Samsung, SK hynix, Micron and Elpida – and Elpida followed in 2012. The memory business is a masterclass in how cyclical hardware can be.