Memory chipmaker Micron Technology is being buffeted by price swings in the low-margin computer memory market. So the company is turning to a healthier sector of the tech field for future growth — tiny projectors that may one day enlarge the text and graphics more users consume on ever-more sophisticated smartphones.
On May 20, Micron plans to announce that it has acquired DisplayTech, which makes small display screens used as viewfinders in digital cameras and other products, for an undisclosed amount. The deal would get Micron into the business of building miniature screens and tiny projectors that within a few years could begin showing up in wireless phones and other consumer electronics devices, the companies say. Micron closed the deal last week.
By acquiring DisplayTech’s technology, Micron could create projectors so small that they could be built into a device like Apple’s iPod or Research in Motion’s BlackBerry. DisplayTech uses a technology called ferroelectric liquid crystal on silicon, or FLCOS, that takes in an image from a digital device and turns it into projected light. Micron plans to announce the acquisition as part of the launch of a new micro-display product.
Role of Smartphones May Shift
Micron’s interest stems primarily from a new technology DisplayTech has been developing called “pico projection,” which can produce crisp images from small devices. But Micron will compete with Texas Instruments and others to sell the technology to device makers.
If Micron’s road map for the technology unfolds as planned, the role of smartphones in society could begin to shift. By projecting videos or other images in high quality onto a wall, the devices could quickly change roles from informing or entertaining a single person to imparting information to all the people in a room. BlackBerry users could beam a business presentation without lugging a laptop and full-sized projector.
Micron, which…