Elpida Memory, Inc, Japan's leading global supplier of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), has been selected as a strategic technology partner of Taiwan Memory Company (TMC), the company announced today. Details of the collaboration have yet to be finalized.

"We are very pleased to be selected as a technology partner of TMC. It seems that TMC gave high ratings to Elpida's advanced technology and our business achievements in Taiwan. Our intention now is to do our best effort to create win-win business scenarios for Elpida, TMC and Taiwanese DRAM companies," said Yukio Sakamoto, President and CEO of Elpida.

Sakamoto also said that this new Japan-Taiwan memory partnership would help to revitalize the health of the DRAM industry.

Taiwan Memory Company (TMC) is a a new government-backed firm set up to consolidate the island's memory-chip industry. The TMC tie-up will aim to secure badly needed core technologies and consolidate the local industry to upgrade Taiwan's competitiveness in the DRAM chip market. The company will develop dynamic random access memory with Elpida and will jointly own intellectual property rights to new technologies. The new business may also work with Boise, Idaho-based Micron Technology Inc., which also expressed a "strong" intention in a tie-up.

Elpida has already a joint venture with Powerchip Semiconductor Corp, while Micron is in partnership with Nanya Technology Corp.

Government investment would not exceed 50 percent, according to Taiwanese ministry.