Micron Technology has promised to defend itself against
an antitrust lawsuit filed by Rambus against the company and three
other computer memory suppliers.
Micron said that although it had yet to see the suit filed in a
US court, it believed the lawsuit is an attempt by Rambus to divert
attention away from the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) suit
against Rambus for alleged antitrust violations.
The other DRam (dynamic Ram) suppliers named in the Rambus suit
are Hynix Semiconductor, Infineon Technologies and Siemens.
In the latest series of Rambus lawsuits, the company contended
that executives from the accused suppliers colluded to keep Rambus'
RDRam (Rambus dynamic Ram) product - designed as an alternative to
conventional DRam technology - from becoming a mainstream memory
technology by illegally setting cost parameters and restricting
output in the hopes of inflating the price of RDRam products.
Rambus does not manufacture memory chips, but rather licenses
its designs to other companies.
Micron spokesman Dave Parker said Rambus failed in the
marketplace because of excessive manufacturing costs and minimal
RDRam demand.
He added that a number of suppliers continue to produce RDRam
products, although the worldwide demand remains limited, and added
that Rambus is trying to blame the market failure of its RDRam
technology on others.
Infineon said that the company also planned a robust defence
against the latest Rambus suit, while Siemens spokesman Thomas
Weber said that the company could not comment on the lawsuit.
Representatives from Hynix Semiconductor could not be reached
for comment.
Laura Rohde writes for IDG News Service