Micron Completes $2 Billion Purchase of Primary Apple Memory Supplier Elpida

Semiconductor manufacturer Micron Technology has completed its $2 billion purchase of Elpida, a Japanese manufacturer of memory chips and primary chip supplier to Apple. The company’s memory chips are currently used in the iPhone 5 and fourth-generation iPad and are also found in other devices such as Google’s current generation Nexus 7. Elpida DRAM was also spotted in an iPhone 5S prototype leaked in June.

Using its advanced technologies, Elpida has built a strong presence in Mobile DRAM, targeting mobile phones and tablets. Micron is a leader in delivering enterprise DRAM solutions for networking and servers as well as offering a wide product portfolio in NAND flash memory and NOR. Combining the two complementary product portfolios will further strengthen Micron's position in the memory market and enable it to provide customers with an even more complete set of high-quality solutions.

Last year, Apple announced that it was cutting back on memory chip orders from Samsung in order to diversify its client list, and increased orders from manufacturers such as Toshiba, Elpida, and Micron to use in its mobile devices. With DRAM and NAND being relative commodities in the technology market, Apple sources its memory needs from a variety of companies, frequently shifting its orders based on pricing and capacity.