The agreement between NEC Corp and SunDisk Corp of Santa Clara, California to develop production processes for next generation 256M-bit Flash memory chips is the first of a number, and is expected to lead to the marketing of a 256M-bit Flash chip in 1997. NEC will develop the processing technology, testing and evaluation, while SunDisk will work on system and circuit design. The aim is to produce a JEIDA/PCMCIA-ATA Flash II store card incorporating 16 256M-bit chips, with a total capacity of up to 500Mb. A design rule of 0.35 micron will be used. SunDisk has strategic alliances with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co and AT&T Corp, and is 25% owned by Seagate Technology Inc.
