Adesto Wants to Make It Big With Small Chips

摘要

Adesto Technologies is trying to break into one of the toughest businesses in the technology industry: memory chips. Chief Executive Officer Narbeh Derhacobian is betting that the big names-Samsung Electronics, Micron Technology, SK Hynix, and Toshiba-are so focused on making large chips used in memory-hungry laptops and smartphones that they've forgotten to think small. He wants to control the growing market in chips for smart gadgets, such as fitness-tracking wristbands and other Web-connected devices, which can't hold enough battery power for the bigger, faster chips. "We have a huge opportunity over the big memory players," he says. "It's going to be interesting how these companies react, even if they react." The big four companies control 92.6 percept of the $67 billion global memory-chip business, according to market researcher IDC. "It's always been a war of attrition" among the major rivals, says Derhacobian, a former executive at Advanced Micro Devices. The industry is finally emerging from a years-long period of supply gluts that drove down memory prices, culminating in a round of failures and acquisitions. Micron is on course to make its first annual profit since 2011.