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Softbank Corp, Intel announce memory chips collaboration

Daniel Nenni

Daniel Nenni

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Investing.com-- SoftBank Corp (TYO:9434) said on Tuesday its unit Saimemory had formed a collaboration with Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) to develop a new class of memory chip technology.

The two will collaborate on commercializing “Z-Angle operation memory technology,” with the goal of creating high capacity, high bandwidth, and low power consumption chips.

The technology will be developed with the goal of being used in artificial intelligence data centers, Softbank said in a statement. High-speed memory is a key component of AI data centers, given the massive computational power required to run generative AI models.

Softbank Corp is a publicly listed unit of SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984) and is also the conglomerate’s primary operating company. Softbank Group had in mid-2025 agreed to invest $2 billion in Intel.

Tuesday’s announcement comes as Intel seeks to shore up its chip offerings and catch up with its rivals in supplying to the AI sector.

Under the partnership, Saimemory will leverage Intel’s next generation DRAM bonding initiative and aim to create prototypes by at least early-2028, the companies said.

 
I've read three articles about ZAM today. The story has frightening similarities to Optane and PCMS. And, about a decade late, Intel is hiring a new chief GPU architect. Does LBT drive a DeLorean?
 
Funny, the guy who oversaw Optane just left Intel... as a VP. If they've learned anything they'll use Softbank like they got used by Micron: "Sure Masayoshi Son, throw 9 figures at it every year and let us know how it goes, we'll be ready."
 
I'm not a memory person, maybe Fred Chen can help us with this? I understand there is a lot of important technology inside Intel that should be let out but I do not get this one.
 
MKWVentures said:
they should call it a Memristor. (i just invented that term) .... it will revolutionize semiconductors :ROFLMAO: :LOL:
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Daniel Nenni said:
To me this seems like skating to where the puck has been and not where it is going to be.
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SoftBank does not have the ability to manufacture memory. Does that mean Intel is rejoining the race of memory manufacturing for the third time?

Sadly, due to financial pressure, market conditions, and timing, Intel couldn’t stay in the memory manufacturing business. Now, while NAND memory is in hot demand and short supply, Intel had already sold its NAND memory division to SK Hynix in 2020. What if …
 
hist78 said:
SoftBank does not have the ability to manufacture memory. Does that mean Intel is rejoining the race of memory manufacturing for the third time?

Sadly, due to financial pressure, market conditions, and timing, Intel couldn’t stay in the memory manufacturing business. Now, while NAND memory is in hot demand and short supply, Intel had already sold its NAND memory division to SK Hynix in 2020. What if …
Click to expand...
If Intel still had its memory business, it would be the highest revenue business unit at Intel. Intel will probably get back into memory right before the crash LOL

That said, from what I hear, this is not really a new memory type as much as a optimized DRAM for GPU accelerators. Intels model is to use if for internal products and offer it to other companies
 
MKWVentures said:
If Intel still had its memory business, it would be the highest revenue business unit at Intel. Intel will probably get back into memory right before the crash LOL
Click to expand...

Yes, Intel missed this golden opportunity (and many others). I almost feel as if there is a curse placed on Intel.

Nanya Technology, a smaller memory manufacturer in Taiwan, has seen its one year stock performance jump almost tenfold.


1770248143190.png
 
hist78 said:
Yes, Intel missed this golden opportunity (and many others). I almost feel as if there is a curse placed on Intel.

Nanya Technology, a smaller memory manufacturer in Taiwan, has seen its one year stock performance jump almost tenfold.


View attachment 4146
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Nonsense. Intel exited the DRAM business 40 years ago. Until four months ago, Micron stock was not an especially great investment over the long run, but, yeah, Intel should have lost money for 40 more years just so it could take advantage of the latest shorter-than-two-quarter DRAM and HBM pricing circus.
 
MKWVentures said:
If Intel still had its memory business, it would be the highest revenue business unit at Intel. Intel will probably get back into memory right before the crash LOL

That said, from what I hear, this is not really a new memory type as much as a optimized DRAM for GPU accelerators. Intels model is to use if for internal products and offer it to other companies
Click to expand...

Note: to be less confusing to my fellow blogges, here is my revised edition:

Yes, Intel missed this golden opportunity (and many other memory or non-memory opportunities over the years). I almost feel as if there is a curse placed on Intel.

Nanya Technology, a smaller memory manufacturer in Taiwan, has seen its one‑year stock performance jump almost tenfold, despite its technology being two to three generations behind Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron.

Intel, on the other hand, sold its NAND division to SK Hynix in 2020 and completed the transaction in March 2025. Intel’s intellectual property, R&D employees, and manufacturing assets related to NAND were transferred to SK Hynix through this sale. While NAND prices and demand are rising sharply, additional NAND supply is limited. Intel has lost the opportunity to participate in this NAND boom.
 
hist78 said:
Intel, on the other hand, sold its NAND division to SK Hynix in 2020 and completed the transaction in March 2025. Intel’s intellectual property, R&D employees, and manufacturing assets related to NAND were transferred to SK Hynix through this sale. While NAND prices and demand are rising sharply, additional NAND supply is limited. Intel has lost the opportunity to participate in this NAND boom.
Click to expand...
So let me understand this edited version. You are thinking that Intel was showing a lack of foresight about AI software using NAND storage in 2020/21, when NAND prices were falling rapidly, and Intel wanted to exit the SSD business, which was really intended for Optane. You can't be serious.

NAND SSDs had/have a lower margin than Intel's chip businesses, so the NAND business was a drag on Intel's margins. I'm unaware of any 2025 actions, but the NAND business was spun out as a separate company, Solidigm, in 2021, became a subsidiary of SK Hynix, and the original CEO, Rob Crooke, was a former Intel SVP who led the storage group. (I know Rob, and IMO he's one of the best senior executives I met at Intel.)

Intel has/had a lot of faults, but not a seeing a 2H2025 NAND opportunity in 2021 is not one of them.
 
hist78 said:
Note: to be less confusing to my fellow blogges, here is my revised edition:

Yes, Intel missed this golden opportunity (and many other memory or non-memory opportunities over the years). I almost feel as if there is a curse placed on Intel.

Nanya Technology, a smaller memory manufacturer in Taiwan, has seen its one‑year stock performance jump almost tenfold, despite its technology being two to three generations behind Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron.

Intel, on the other hand, sold its NAND division to SK Hynix in 2020 and completed the transaction in March 2025. Intel’s intellectual property, R&D employees, and manufacturing assets related to NAND were transferred to SK Hynix through this sale. While NAND prices and demand are rising sharply, additional NAND supply is limited. Intel has lost the opportunity to participate in this NAND boom.
Click to expand...
Probably controversial for this forum, but I think Pat tried to break that cycle by building as much leading edge fab capacity as possible before demand materialized. Then, a year and change after he was booted for spending too much (and not necessarily incorrectly so), and Intel cut spending on build outs.... The boom happens.

It may be Intel just isn't strong enough anymore to get ahead of these curves via investment like they would occasionally successfully do in the 90s and 00s. Iirc Andy or another Intel CEO said "you can't save your way out of a recession".

On the flip side this boom could end this year if it turns out AI is 1/10th as profitable as Altman predicts...
 
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