Irvine’s Netlist Inc., a maker of specialized memory products for computers, recently landed two patents for an invention that helps improve the performance of servers in data centers.
The patents are a vital piece of Netlist’s strategy focusing on making memory boards with specialized controller chips that help manage other memory boards within servers.
“The issuance of the patents further reinforces the innovations Netlist is delivering to the market,” Chief Executive C.K. “Chuck” Hong said.
The company has been wrapped up in several legal disputes over patents related to the controller chip technology. The controllers in effect “supercharge” memory chips inside a server, making them more efficient and speeding the flow of data.
In September, Netlist filed a lawsuit against Westlake Village-based chipmaker Inphi Corp. alleging that Inphi infringed on its controller chip patent. Netlist is seeking damages and an injunction.
Netlist was slapped with a countersuit from Inphi in November. Inphi’s complaint alleges that Netlist’s memory chips infringe on two of its patents related to memory interface technologies used in corporate data storage networks.
With a recent market value of about $75 million, Netlist still is a tiny player among makers of memory products. Bigger rivals include Northern California’s Smart Modular Technologies Inc. and Fountain Valley’s Kingston Technology Co.
Netlist recently added a fifth director to its board. It named Richard Char as director and chair of Netlist’s audit committee.
He replaced Preston Romm, who left in May. The appointment is designed to help Netlist get back in compliance with Nasdaq’s requirements for auditing oversight.
Char, 50, is chief executive of Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Incentium LLC, which runs loyalty and incentive programs for the employees of other companies. He also serves on the board of Santa Ana’s Iteris Inc., a maker of traffic management systems.
PC Sales Rebound
After a tough 2009, personal computer sales ended the year on a fairly strong note.
PC makers shipped 90 million units in the fourth quarter, up 22% from a year earlier, according to data from Stamford, Conn.-based market researcher Gartner Inc.
It was the strongest yearly growth rate the global PC market has seen in the past seven years, according to Gartner. That’s keeping in mind that the fourth quarter of 2008 was one of the most dismal on record.
“These preliminary results indicate the recovery of the PC market on a global level,” said Mikako Kitagawa, a principal analyst at Gartner.
Sales growth was driven by laptops and their smaller, cheaper cousins, netbooks.
Several local companies are closely tied to the PC market, including Irvine-based chipmaker Broadcom Corp., Lake Forest-based disk drive maker Western Digital Corp. and Santa Ana’s Ingram Micro Inc., the largest distributor of computer products.
Flash Point
Orange County is becoming a bit of a hub for companies producing drives made of flash memory.
The devices are known as solid state drives, because they lack the spinning disk of a traditional drive and instead use flash memory chips.
Solid state drives are starting to replace disk drives in data centers because they are more durable, use less power and are quicker at some tasks.
A slew of local companies sell or have plans to sell solid state drives, including Kingston, Western Digital and Santa Ana’s STEC Inc.
Western Digital got into the market last year with its $65 million buy of Aliso Viejo’s SiliconSystems Inc.
The latest to join the fray is Foothill Ranch-based Viking Modular Solutions Inc., a unit of San Jose-based Sanmina-SCI Corp.
Viking, which started in 1989, makes memory products for corporations and for aerospace, defense and industrial uses.
Nicholas Charity
A few weeks ago a local family received the keys to a new home in Westminster built through donations from the Irvine-based Henry T. Nicholas III Foundation, the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and Habitat for Humanity of Orange County.
Broadcom cofounder and former chief executive Nicholas, along with Episcopal Diocese Bishop J. Jon Bruno, helped present the keys and the mortgage to the Martinez-Moran family.
The home was built in honor of the late Episcopal priest Rev. Canon Gordon B. Yeaton Jr.
Since 2007, Nicholas’ foundation has granted $600,000 to Habitat for Humanity, including $100,000 for the construction of the house.
Nicholas’ foundation also is helping build another 27 homes in San Juan Capistrano.
Nicholas left Broadcom in 2003. He recently saw drug charges against him dropped. His stock option backdating case still is pending.
