Sun Pulls the Shades on US Memories; Won't Invest in Chip Coop
 
Microbytes Daily News Service
Copyright (c) 1989, McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Sun Microsystems has dealt a blow to the efforts of US Memories
to establish itself as a major domestic manufacturer of memory
chips. The workstation maker said last week that it will not
invest in the cooperative chip-production venture, becoming the
third company to announce such a decision in recent weeks.
 
Sun's decision not to invest was based on the company's
assessment of "long-term DRAM trends, the company's memory
requirements, and the risks and benefits of such an investment,"
said Sun spokesperson Kim Miller. Miller said that Sun has
"long-term contracts in place today" with US, European, and
Japanese memory chip suppliers, which will meet the company's
memory requirements.
 
US Memories president Sanford Kane issued a statement
downplaying the significance of Sun's decision. "Sun is only one
of 18 companies considering investing in US Memories," the
statement said. However, Unisys has also announced that it's not
interested, and Sun's announcement follows close on the heels of
Apple Computer's decision not to invest in the chip consortium.
 
The success of US Memories hinges on major financial backing by a
large number of American computer manufacturers. So far, the only
committed investors are the seven founding companies:
Hewlett-Packard, DEC, IBM, AMD, Intel, LSI Logic, and National
Semiconductor.
 
                              --- Nick Baran
 
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