SGS-THOMSON leads the way in EPROM and EEPROM

SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics retained its number one ranking in the world EPROM market and overtook the 1994 leader to become the world number one in EEPROM sales in 1995, according to international analysts Dataquest. Equally the company's sales growth in flash memories exceeded that of the market during last year.

Consolidation in EPROM

Commenting on the Dataquest results, Mauro Decca, General Manager of the EPROM Division of the Memory Product Group, said "We are still the solid leader in EPROM, with nearly 25% of the world market and sales of over $120 million more than our nearest competitor. He also noted that the company's penetration of the market has now reached 22% in Japan, where it has gained 5% points each year since 1992. Despite industry expectations, the EPROM market has not suffered a predicted large-scale decline with the introduction of flash memory technology, he added.

Decca, who is also Vice President of the Memory Product Group, attributes SGS-THOMSON's success in the EPROM market to its policy of continuous improvement in EPROM technology and manufacturing efficiency, coupled with a long term commitment to the market that generates customer confidence. Almost all products are now made in 0.6 micron technology, while the 16Mbit devices, now in full production, are built with a double metal process.

Thanks to its advanced technology, SGS-THOMSON offers the world's fastestand highest density ranges of standard EPROMs. The high speeds are especially needed in DSP applications such as modems and the high density parts are replacing mask ROMs in games. In addition, the EPROM range includes low voltage products with operation down to 2.7V.

Another important growth area in 1995 was in One-Time Programmable (OTP) memories. These are EPROMs housed in low cost windowless plastic packages, which means that they can be programmed but not erased. OTP offers a cost-effective alternative to flash memory in applications where the memory contents, typically microcontroller program code, is stable.

Strong growth in EEPROM

In the EEPROM market, SGS-THOMSON achieved its goal of becoming the world number one supplier in a market where five years ago it had only a minor presence. Its major strengths in serial EEPROMs have been the wide product range (four bus types and densities up to 64k, with 256k now being introduced), an unrivalled manufacturing efficiency and a proprietary technology that delivers the world's best erase/write cycle endurance.

1995 also saw a strong entry into the parallel EEPROM market with 16k and 64k devices, including low voltage types. According to Mario Licciardello, General Manager of the EEPROM and Application Specific Memory division, the company is currently patenting a highly innovative new technology that will be used to make 256kbit, multi-megabit EEPROMs and multiple memories combining EEPROM and FLASH, further consolidating SGS-THOMSON's technical and market leadership.

Top