NEW SOLAR TECH VALIDATED

The biggest question: When does Energy Conversion's thin-film solar technology get validated by the marketplace?

Energy Conversion Devices Shares Boosted by Chipmakers “Validating” New Technology
March 7, 2007 (AP via Yahoo Finance)
- Shares of Energy Conversion Devices Inc. got a boost…on word that two major chip makers -- Intel and Samsung -- will market a new memory technology in which it holds a stake…

- Intel announced it sent samples of "phase change memory" [PCM] chips to customers as a replacement for NOR flash memory technology commonly used in cell phones. The new technology is licensed from Ovonyx Inc., an Intel joint venture in which Energy Conversion holds 40 percent…
- Samsung Electronics Co. also said it would expand its trial line of PCM products, which it said are faster and longer-lasting than NOR memory.
- The new memory chips are not yet in commercial production.
- Jefferies & Co. analyst Jeffrey Bencik said the announcements by Intel and Samsung "should increase investors' confidence as established players are validating the technology." He reiterated a "Buy" rating on the stock.

- Shares of Energy Conversion jumped $2.28, or 7.6 percent, to close at $32.41 on the Nasdaq Stock Market on heavy trading volume…The stock had wilted over the past nine months…
- Energy Conversion is best known as a manufacturer of solar cells and batteries for hybrid vehicles.