$8.37
0.00 (0%)
Micron Technology, Inc. (MU)
CAPS Rating:
The Company is a global manufacturer and marketer of semiconductor devices, principally DRAM and NAND Flash memory and CMOS image sensors.
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Layoffs are actually signs of the company cutting costs in a shrinking economy. They are actually doing the right thing. Plus, after every acquisition there are always layoffs. Some signs their management knows what they are doing. Regarding lawsuits, Rambus, like PCI and PCI-SIG, is an IP holder/owner and apparently not a very good one. In many ways, their sole purpose is to enforce their standards and defend their patents. I would almost consider it more a law firm than a team of engineers. It's nice having standards and in some cases justified. However, sometimes those enforcing standards can become a little too greedy and abusive to manufacturers. I'm not sure I would necessarily call it patent trolling, but they are definitely claiming damages on DDR-SDRAM and related memory controller patents in a very aggressive manor. Companies are not going to want to work with them out of fear of being sued. I would be less excited about owning stock in Rambus. Here is a good even keel article regarding the case:http://www.idahostatesman.com/103/story/281880.htmlGranted, I'm no patent lawyer, so please take these references with a grain of salt. Keep in mind, Rambus doesn't even own the original patents for DRAM, SDRAM, or DDR:DRAM - http://www.google.com/patents?id=XDwSAAAAEBAJSDRAM - http://www.google.com/patents?id=kR4GAAAAEBAJSDRAM - http://www.google.com/patents?id=rZolAAAAEBAJDDR - http://www.google.com/patents?id=j1YGAAAAEBAJThey just own memory controller patents that interface with the RAM and this specific design of SDRAM known to some as 'Rambus' SDRAM:http://www.google.com/patents?id=gocSAAAAEBAJMU wasn't the only target in this case. Rambus also sued Samsung, Infineon Technologies, Hynix, Nanya Technology, Inotera Memories, and recently NVidia. Even the FTC is in a legal battle with Rambus. MU will definitely have to pay the piper, but I suspect it will be no more than 200 million judging by previous outcomes with other companies.No one company should be able to monopolize DRAM technology. Especially when they didn't invent the technology themselves. They are just standing on the shoulders of giants like the defendants. I suspect Rambus potentially shot themselves in the foot and the companies mentioned above are going to migrate to newer technologies, avoid working with them, and dissuade from using this 'Rambus' technology altogether.I predict Rambus will have a short rally and then plummet in the long run. RDRAM was too expensive and didn't catch on. XDR is just a successor of it. GDDR has since replaced XDR in the market. XDR is only currently being used in the PS3 and we all know the PS3 got slaughtered by Nintendo and XBox. Qimonda, the manufacturer for the XDR manufacturer for PS3 just got bought by Micron! The company Rambus has repeatedly attacked! Hmm, I wonder what all the MU layoffs are really for?MU has a good spread in the market across many industries: Automotive, Computing,Commercial & Industrial,Consumer Electronics,Networking & Communications,Mobile,Server. They have a good business model and partner with many others to keep a strong footing in the industry. MU will tough out the economy and Rambus issues. I expect them to stay below the S&P for a few months and then turn around.
If you research the rambus cases you will actually see that Rambus did not sue these companies. MU sued rmbs in Delaware, Infineon sued rmbs in Virginia and Hnix sued Rambus in California. That is origin of this legal web that has become so tangled. Also update yourself on the FTC docket, the Supreme Court found their argument did not hold water and refused to hear the FTC's appeal of an earlier court ruling which said the FTC does not have a legitimate complaint against rambus.