Elpida files for bankruptcy protection

Set up in 1999 as a joint venture between Japanese electronics companies NEC Corp. and Hitachi Ltd., the company will be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange on March 28., with debts standing at 448 billion yen (US$5.6 billion) as of March 31, 2011. A ”record-breaking strong yen against the US dollar, and the steep fall of the price of DRAM products by fiercer competition in the DRAM industry,” made the business unprofitable a statement by the company said. These problems compounded with the recent flooding in Thailand according to the company. The company has posted operating losses for five consecutive quarters.