Western Digital (WD), a major manufacturer of traditional hard disks, announced on October 21 that it will acquire SanDisk, a leading NAND Flash storage solution provider, for a total of US$19 billion. This acquisition, which is set to complete before of the end of next year’s third quarter, is considered the largest of such deals in the Flash storage industry during recent years.
Soaring demand from China, Japan and the U.S. ensures that the first-tier photovoltaic (PV) module manufacturers are booked in orders up to the first quarter of 2016. Currently, prices are rising for all multi-Si products from wafers to cells and modules, with wafers having the largest increase due to news of supply shortages.