Micron Collaborates with Sun Microsystems to Extend Lifespan of Flash-Based Storage, Achieves One Million Write Cycles

Boise, Idaho – Micron Technology, Inc., today announced it has worked with Sun Microsystems, Inc., to develop a new single-level cell (SLC) enterprise NAND technology that dramatically extends the lifespan of flash-based storage for enterprise applications. The result of the collaboration has yielded production devices capable of achieving one million write cycles, a milestone that will help prepare the industry for new uses in solid state storage set to come from Sun, Micron and others. The new technology delivers the highest write/erase cycling capability of any NAND technology available on the market.

“Micron is pleased to work with Sun on this landmark achievement, enabling the use of flash in new applications that were previously not possible because of the inherent write/erase cycle limitations of standard SLC and MLC NAND,” said Brian Shirley, vice president of Micron’s memory group. “We expect this technology to revolutionize the enterprise storage hierarchy and be adopted by a wide range of transaction-intensive applications, including solid state drives and storage systems, disk caching, as well as networking and industrial applications.”

“As the market for enterprise SSD flash storage technology matures, leaders like Sun combine technological innovation and next-generation open source software to deliver flash-based storage products that offer radical simplicity and breakthrough performance at a fraction of the cost of traditional disk-based storage systems,” said Michael Cornwell, lead technologist for flash memory at Sun. “A leader in flash-based storage solutions, Sun has worked closely with Micron on the design of this next-generation NAND technology to achieve this milestone and to ensure customers are able to leverage next-generation flash technology now and into the future.”

Micron is now sampling its Enterprise NAND in densities up to 32 gigabits (Gb). Volume production is expected in the first quarter of 2009. Micron also plans to introduce both SLC and multi-level cell (MLC) enterprise versions on its industry-leading 34nm NAND process early next year.

Visit Micron’s advanced storage blog at advancedstorage.micronblogs.com to catch a video of Micron talking about the benefits of Enterprise NAND.

A Complete NAND Portfolio, Regardless the Application Requirements
Micron has a broad portfolio of NAND solutions -- whether it is standard SLC or MLC, high-speed NAND or Enterprise NAND -- providing customers with the ability to choose the right solution based on their design needs. Additionally, Micron has taken its expertise in NAND flash and applied that to solid state drives (SSDs). Micron’s RealSSD™ products are designed for client and enterprise applications, offering significant improvements in terms of power consumption, performance and reliability. For additional information on Micron’s NAND and RealSSD products visit www.micron.com/products/nand.

About Micron
Micron Technology, Inc., is one of the world’s leading providers of advanced semiconductor solutions. Through its worldwide operations, Micron manufactures and markets DRAMs, NAND flash memory, CMOS image sensors, other semiconductor components, and memory modules for use in leading-edge computing, consumer, networking, and mobile products. Micron’s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the MU symbol. To learn more about Micron Technology, Inc., visit www.micron.com.
Micron and the Micron orbit logo are trademarks of Micron Technology, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the production of Enterprise NAND. Actual events or results may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Please refer to the documents the Company files on a consolidated basis from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the Company’s most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. These documents contain and identify important factors that could cause the actual results for the Company on a consolidated basis to differ materially from those contained in our forward-looking statements (see Certain Factors). Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. We are under no duty to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release to conform to actual results.