The US Semiconductor Industry Association is backing the incorporation of a new memory chip manufacturing company, US Memories Inc, which is backed by major US manufacturers led by IBM, DEC and Hewlett-Packard Co. Provided the anti-trust hurdles can be overcome, the new company will fabricate 4M-bit memory chips to IBM’s design for the companies backing the $1,000m project. The plan is for user companies to hold 70% of the equity of US Memories, chip manufacturers 30%; users will get chips from it in proportion to their investment, and will commit to take a minimum number of parts.
