Japanese Government May Invest in Toshiba NAND Flash Business
To keep technology out of foreigners hands
By Jean Jacques Maleval | March 17, 2017 at 2:36 pmTo read this article from Barron’s Asia, click on:
Toshiba Soars 5% On Reports Of Government Investment In Chip Business
The Japanese electronics conglomerate soared 5.5% on Friday after reports that the Japanese government may invest in its crown jewel NAND flash memory business to keep technology out of foreigners hands.
Whatever the Japanese government decides to do needs to happen soon. Toshiba is set to begin the bidding process at the end of the month, and a lot of foreign companies are interested. Korea’s SK Hynix is probably the best fit, having a cash cow DRAM business but being behind on NAND technology. Hon Hai Precision Industry, or Foxconn, is interested in bottom fishing. Toshiba’s memory joint venture partner Western Digital will place a bid, so might U.S.-based Micron, which will want Toshiba’s technology not to go away for cheap. Of course, China’s Tsinghua Group is very interested, but the question is whether the Japanese government will allow it to have Toshiba’s technology.