Headquartered in Munich, Germany, Qimonda was once a major provider of computer memory. The company was formed when splitting from Infineon Technologies in 2006, which itself was a spin-off division of Siemens AG and still has a stake in the company. It sells Aeneon-branded memory products to retail markets and uses the Qimonda brand for its OEM customers. Some of its clients have included Dell and Hewlett Packard, while most of its sales originated in the Asia Pacific and North American markets.
At the time, it was said to be the second largest DRAM company in the world and a top supplier of memory products for the personal computer and server markets. In its glory days, the company had an estimated 13,500 worldwide employees, including nearly 1,800 in research and development with access to multiple R&D facilities and manufacturing sites spanning three continents.
The successful run for Qimonda DRAM products was short to say the least. Starting in 2008, the price of DRAM declined steadily due to an oversupply on the market. This in turn resulted in significant financial losses. In October of 2008, the company announced major changes in order to reduce losses and reposition itself in the struggling DRAM business. Qimonda signed on for a joint venture with Nanya Technology and also shut down one of its sites in Richmond, Virginia, an R&D facility in Raleigh, North Carolina and a major location back in Dresden. Lacking resources and capital, its situation worsened, leading to reports that the company had filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February of 2009.
Despite an EETimes report starting that Qimonda DRAM products were no longer in production, the company has released statements that it is still in existence and looking for “fresh capital.” Unfortunately, without anyone interested in making an acquisition or investing in the company, the future of Qimonda appears quite bleak.