SanDisk收购Pliant,拉开固态硬盘厂商整合序幕

SanDisk公司近日有大动作，以约3.27亿美元的现金和一些其他诱因，收购了企业级固态硬盘（SSD）开发商Pliant Technology。 Pliant目前主营基于SAS协议的企业级存储固态硬盘。该公司的产品蓝图（Roadmap）还包括用于高性能计算机服务器、基于PCIe的解决方案。 这项交易已经得到这两家公司董事会的批准，正进入例定成交条件（customary closing conditions）审核程序、包括监管审查和批准，预计该交易将在SanDisk公司第二财季结束时完成。 SanDisk预计，该交易将把其2011财年的非GAAP盈利冲减2%到3%，而在2012财年则会增加其非GAAP的收入。 此举将强化SanDisk的SSD业务的份量。“SanDisk业已在pSSD产品线上取得相当大的成功，但尚未在客户SSD领域有斩获，”Forward Insights的分析师Gregory Wong说。 “收购Pliant是SanDisk在其专注于企业和数据中心环境客户之外的更上层楼。给企业SSD市场机会（2015年的50亿美元）锦上添花的前提是：随着NAND闪存升级到更精微节点、高级ECC、闪存管理、算法以及对闪存内部工作机制的深度了解等将提供有竞争力的优势，特别是相对于独立、非垂直整合的SSD公司，”Wong说。 “企业级应用是固态硬盘接受度最高的唯一领域。直到今天，SanDisk在该市场还没有建树，”Objective-Analysis的分析师Jim Handy说。“对SanDisk来说，这次收购真是明智之举。收购也给Pliant注入了强大活力，为他们在市场上大展拳脚提供了强大的靠山。” Pliant与一些OEM有牢固的合作关系，包括戴尔、LSI和Teradata。在2009年，Pliant宣布，在其得到的第C轮风险投资中，共募集到1,500万美元。投资者包括：Menlo Ventures、Lightspeed Venture Partners、Arcturus Capital和 Divergent Ventures。 去年，Pliant宣布，它推出了两款新的MLC（多级单元）NAND闪存存储设备以扩展其Lightning产品线。今年三月，位于加利福尼亚州Milpitas的Pliant宣布了CEO Amyl Ahola退休的消息，但他仍留在公司董事会。同时，该公司任命Richard Wilmer为新的首席执行官。在来Pliant之前，Wilmer担任Santur的首席运营官兼执行首席财务官，他之前曾作为Santur 的全球业务副总裁。 位于Milpitas的SanDisk公司近日公布了截止于2011年4月3日的第一财季业绩报告。其第一财季总营收为12.9亿美元，同比增长了19%；环比下降了3%。按照美国公认会计准则（GAAP）规定的算法，其第一财季净收入为2.24亿美元（或每股摊薄后，收益0.92美元）；而2010年第一财季净收入为2.35亿美元（或每股摊薄后，收益0.99美元）；而2010年第四财季净收入为4.85亿美元（或每股摊薄后，收益2.01美元）。 SanDisk和东芝公司最近还联合发布了一款采用19nm（世界最先进的NAND工艺技术节点）技术、基于64Gb、2位/每核（X2）的单芯片闪存。 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 参考英文原文：Update: SanDisk buys SSD firm，by Mark LaPedus

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{pagination} Update: SanDisk buys SSD firm Mark LaPedus 5/16/2011 12:52 PM EDT SAN JOSE, Calif. - SanDisk Corp. has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Pliant Technology Inc., a developer of enterprise solid state drives (SSD), for approximately $327 million in cash and other incentives. Pliant currently sells SSDs based on the SAS protocol for enterprise storage customers. The company’s product roadmap also includes PCIe-based solutions for high-performance compute servers. The transaction, which has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies, is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory review and approval, and it is expected to close by the end of SanDisk’s second fiscal quarter. SanDisk expects the transaction to be dilutive to its non-GAAP earnings by 2 percent to 3 percent in fiscal year 2011 and accretive to non-GAAP earnings in fiscal year 2012. The move will expand SanDisk's SSD efforts. ''SanDisk has been fairly successful with their pSSD line but have yet to gain traction in client SSDs,'' said Gregory Wong, an analyst with Forward Insights. ''The Pliant acquisition is a departure from their consumer focus into the enterprise and data center environment. In addition to the enterprise SSD market opportunity - $5 billion in 2015 - the premise is that as NAND flash scales to smaller process nodes, advanced ECC, flash management, algorithms and in-depth knowledge of the inner workings of flash will provide a competitive advantage, particularly against independent, non-vertically integrated SSD companies,'' Wong said. ''The enterprise is the only place where SSDs are meeting with strong acceptance. Until today SanDisk was doing nothing to participate in this market,'' added Jim Handy, an analyst with Objective-Analysis. ''This is a really good move for SanDisk, and gives Pliant a lot of strength and backing that they can use as they establish themselves in the market.'' Pliant has secured several OEM partnerships, including Dell, LSI and Teradata. In 2009, Pliant announced that it had received $15 million in Series C funding. Investors included Menlo Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Arcturus Capital, and Divergent Ventures Last year, Pliant announced the expansion of its Lightning product line with two new MLC (multi-level cell) NAND flash storage devices. In March, Milpitas, Calif.-based Pliant announced the retirement of chief executive officer Amyl Ahola, who remained on the company’s board. At the time, the company named Richard Wilmer as the new chief executive. Prior to Pliant, Wilmer served as COO and acting CFO for Santur Corp. and previously as its vice president of global operations. Milpitas-based SanDisk recently announced results for the first fiscal quarter ending April 3, 2011. Total first quarter revenue of $1.29 billion increased 19 percent on a year-over-year basis and decreased 3 percent on a sequential basis. First quarter net income, in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), was $224 million, or $0.92 per diluted share, compared to net income of $235 million, or $0.99 per diluted share in the first quarter of fiscal 2010 and $485 million, or $2.01 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010. SanDisk and Toshiba Corp. recently announced a 64-gigabit (Gb), 2-bits-per-cell (X2) based monolithic chip made on 19-nm technology, the most advanced NAND process technology node in the world.