Rumors about the fate of struggling chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG's [IFX] memory unit Qimonda are a dime a dozen these days, but Wall Street was putting some money behind speculation this week that Japan's Elpida Memory Inc. would move in to buy the business. The rumor had Elpida pumping $1.1 billion to $1.6 billion into Qimonda, which specializes in dynamic random access memory chips.
Alas, it was not to be, at least according to a statement issued by Elpida and carried by Reuters Friday.
"Given the current market conditions, we have no plans at all to invest in Qimonda," Elpida said.
Shares of Infineon Thursday spiked to over $9 per share for the first time in months, but sagged 2.5%, to $8.53, in early-afternoon trading Friday following Elpida's statement. Seems the rough market conditions are not only hurting Qimonda's business, which has been a major drag on its German parent's performance, but have made it nigh impossible to find a willing buyer. - Olaf de Senerpont Domis
See Aug. 29 report on Elpida statement from Reuters
See March 24 post on Qimonda troubles from Tech Confidential
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