The Cutting Edge: COMPUTING / TECHNOLOGY / INNOVATION : Alliance Says It Has Faster, Smaller Memory Chip

IBM Corp., Siemens of Germany and Toshiba Corp. of Japan announced Tuesday that their $1-billion semiconductor research alliance has succeeded in developing an advanced computer memory chip.

They said the 256-megabit chip, the product of more than two years of research, will enable engineers to design products such as far more compact and powerful computers and high-quality digital televisions.

Several other semiconductor companies have announced the development of 256-megabit memory chips, but the three companies said their design is nearly twice as fast and smaller.

The most advanced memory chips now on the market have a capacity of 16 megabits.

The experimental chip is fully functional but won’t reach the market for at least three years, the companies said.

“We’ll be able to start production in 1998 or 1999. But the timing will depend on market demand,” Toshiba spokesman Keisuke Ohmori said.

Last November, Japan’s NEC Corp. announced that it would invest about $1.2 billion to build the world’s first factory line for 256-megabit memory chips by March, 1998.