Elpida merged Japan's DRAM giants — then lost ¥448B in a commodity collapse

Elpida Memory was created in 1999 as NEC Hitachi Memory, a merger of NEC's and Hitachi's DRAM businesses, and later absorbed Mitsubishi Electric's DRAM operations. The Japanese government and the country's largest banks backed the consolidation to create a national champion that could compete with Samsung and SK Hynix in the global DRAM market. Elpida became the world's third-largest DRAM maker with 18% market share.

The business model depended on DRAM as a commodity where price moved in cycles and Asian competitors could produce at lower cost. A perfect storm hit in 2011: the benchmark DDR3 2-gigabit price fell 85%, the Japanese yen strengthened against the dollar, PC demand stagnated, and Thai floods disrupted HDD supply chains. Elpida had already consumed ¥140 billion in government loans and emergency aid from 2009 and could not survive another downturn.

Elpida filed for bankruptcy on 27 February 2012 with ¥448 billion ($5.5 billion) in liabilities — the largest Japanese bankruptcy since Japan Airlines in 2010. The company was delisted in March 2012 and acquired by Micron Technology in July 2013. Micron invested $2 billion in the Hiroshima plant post-acquisition and later received $4.5 billion in Japanese government subsidies to keep the fab running.