Spansion Inc. is a Flash memory chip maker ^[1] that designs, develops and manufactures NOR flash memory products.^[2][3] The company has over 3,400 employees and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. Spansion is a former joint-venture between AMD and Fujitsu.^[4]

Spansion has over 4,500 customers worldwide.^[2] Its products are used in the following markets: automotive electronics, PC and peripheral computing equipment, consumer equipment and communication equipment.^[2]

History[link]

Spansion was founded in 1993 as a joint venture between AMD and Japan's Fujitsu Ltd. Spansion was formerly known as FASL LLC.^[5] Once AMD took control of the company in 2003, it was renamed Spansion LLC in June 2004^[5] and officially spun off as an independent maker of flash memory chips in December 2005.^[6][7]

Mergers and Acquisitions[link]

In October 2007 Spansion announced that it was acquiring Israel-based non-volatile memory IP provider Saifun Semiconductors Ltd. (Nasdaq: SFUN). The companies signed an agreement that consolidated all MirrorBit and NROM IP, design and manufacturing expertise within Spansion. As a result, Spansion expanded IP portfolio and enabled its immediate entry into the technology licensing business.^[8][9]

Saifun Semiconductors was founded in 1996 by Dr. Boaz Eitan in Netanya, Israel. As of March 18, 2008, Saifun Semiconductors Ltd. became a subsidiary of Spansion Inc.^[8][9]

Products[link]

Spansion's product portfolio offers densities ranging from one-megabit to two-gigabits and an array of interfaces and features.^[2] It has developed two Flash memory technologies, single-bit-per-cell floating gate technology and one-, two- or more-bit-per-cell MirrorBit technology, with MirrorBit products based on two-bits per cell and allow offering a range of product configurations.^[2] The Company's products are designed for code storage and execution is based on NOR Flash memory architecture and utilize either traditional floating gate technology or its MirrorBit technology.^[2]

Spansion concentrates on the embedded electronics market and portions of the wireless handset market.^[10] Its Floating Gate and MirrorBit technology is used to make networking and telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics, gaming equipment, TV set-top control boxes, automotive equipment and personal computer peripherals.^[11] MirrorBit Technology represents nearly one fourth of the entire NOR flash memory market.^[8][9]

The company’s products offer designers the option to choose from 5V, 3V and 1.8V products that range from 1Mb to 2Gb.

Spansion’s standard parallel NOR flash includes Spansion’s MirrorBit NOR GL family of 3V flash memory. The product operates at 3.0 volts (Vcc), feature a random read speed of 90-100 nanoseconds (ns) access and offer a page read speed of 25 ns via an 8-word page buffer.^[12]

Spansion’s serial peripheral interface (SPI) devices read information serially, or one bit at a time, requiring fewer connections and pins, allowing for lower costs and simplified board layouts.^[13] Serial Flash memory is used in applications such as high-end printers, FPGAs, networking equipment and set-top boxes.^[14]

The MirrorBit SPI FL family of serial flash memory: Densities for the MirrorBit SPI Flash memory devices range from 4 Mb to 256 Mb with uniform 64 Kb sectors, and 4 Mb with parameter sectors. The 128 Mb device also features an optional 256 Kb sector architecture.^[15]

In August 2011, Spansion also announced that it had created the first single-die, 4-gigabit NOR product implemented at the 65-nm node.

Financial[link]

At the end of Q2 2010, Spansion reported results for its second fiscal quarter; the company reported both GAAP and non-GAAP results due to the impact of fresh start accounting. On a U.S. GAAP basis, Spansion reported net sales of $255.7 million ($292.7 million on a non-GAAP basis).^[16]

Emergence from Chapter 11

After filing a motion with The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware,^[17] in April 2010, Spansion won court approval of its plan to exit bankruptcy and was allowed to reorganize the company.^[18]

On May 10, 2010, Spansion emerged out of chapter 11 bankruptcy. Its old common stock was previously deemed to be impaired and then cancelled; the company issued new shares to those to whom it owed money.^[19] The company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on June 22, 2010 under the ticker symbol “CODE.”^[20]

Executive pay controversy

John Kispert was named CEO in February 2009, a month before the company's chapter 11 filing.^[7] It was understood that Kispert walked into a "no-win situation" according to the local media.^[7]

With the company in turmoil and needing to reduce expenses,^[7] Spansion laid off 3,000 employees without severance pay on February 23, 2009 CEO John Kispert was given a compensation package that could pay a $1.7 million bonus if he successfully found a buyer for the company or liquidated the company within six months,^[21] Kispert never saw this bonus since he opted to file bankruptcy^[7] in March 2009.^[22] Managers received an 11% increase in pay (negating the effect of an earlier 10% salary cut).^[23] The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 1, 2009 amidst growing anger among former employees.^[24]

In 2010, a settlement was reached on behalf of former employees of Spansion Inc. whose employment was terminated on or around February 23, 2009.^[25] Kispert also instituted a policy of offering any new jobs first to the employees who were fired in 2009.^[7]

Manufacturing[link]

Spansion has headquarters in Sunnyvale, CA. The company also has Fab 25 in Austin Texas, which acts as the company’s main wafer fabrication facility.^[26] The company also operates two final manufacturing facilities in Bangkok, Thailand and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

References[link]

External links[link]

	Companies portal
	San Francisco Bay Area portal

• Spansion Official Website

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