One of the world’s largest maker of hard disk drives, Seagate upped its flash memory capabilities with an undisclosed investment in Israel’s DensBits, a company that improves the reliability of flash drives while cutting the price.
DensBits has been able to improve the reliability of flash memory chips so that less space on the chip is needed for error correction. Flash is used for storage memory on tablets, smartphones and very thin laptops.
“This is yet another testament to our technology leadership, and we strongly believe that the coupling between DensBits’ unique Memory ModemTM controller technology and Seagate’s exceptional storage capabilities across the board could truly disrupt the industry,” said Ilan Hen, DensBits’ Chairman and CEO.
The two companies have formed strategic agreements in which Seagate will help DensBits provide its customers Solid State drives at a lower cost. As part of the deal, Seagate will make future products based on DensBits technology, which will be added to Seagate’s own technologies such as its 3-bits-per-cell 1Xnm Flash-based consumer-grade SSDs, and its 2 bits per cell 1Xnm Flash-based enterprise SSDs.
“For the last 30 years, Seagate has delivered technology and product innovation to become the global leader in storage solutions, from high-end enterprise drives to solid-state hybrid drives,” said Rocky Pimentel, Seagate chief sales and marketing officer. “Seagate is excited to be working with the talented DensBits team and believes we have a significant opportunity with our new strategic relationship to extend our leadership into the SSD market.”