Milpitas

SanDisk, a developer of flash storage cards, is ramping up to develop flash memory chips in collaboration with Toshiba. The companies announced at the 2009 International Solid State Circuits Conference in San Francisco that they will develop 32-nanometer, 32-gigabit flash memory chips based on SanDisk's X3 and X4 technology.

Milpitas, Calif.-based SanDisk's move toward multi-cell flash memory chips using 32nm technology came on the same day Intel announced a ramp-up to develop new processors using the same 32nm technology.

Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday it has withdrawn a $26 a share bid to acquire SanDisk Corp., but suggested it was still interested in buying the U.S. flash memory card maker at a lower price.

In a letter dated and released Wednesday, Samsung Vice Chairman and CEO Lee Yoon-woo informed SanDisk's board that "we are no longer interested in acquiring SanDisk at $26 a share."

The letter said the offer was being withdrawn "after nearly six months of efforts to pursue a transaction with no meaningful progress."

SanDisk is keeping good on its promise to bring music to its consumers. On Wednesday, the Milpitas, Calif.-based company, along with four music giants, said consumers this week can begin buying its SlotMusic microSD cards to be used in slot-enabled mobile phones, portable media players, computers and car stereos.

SanDisk's digital-rights management-free SlotMusic cards are preloaded with MP3 music from artists from Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and EMI.

A $5.85 billion bid by Samsung Electronics Co. to take over SanDisk Corp., a wounded competitor that also serves as a partner, reflects the turbulence in the market for flash memory, a key ingredient in digital cameras, music players and other devices.