OCZ Technology acquired controller manufacturer Indilinx about six months ago, to develop SSD controller chips internally. Its next acquisition is circuit and SoC developer PLX, a brand that is recognized among others for its bridge chips found on AMD’s dual-GPU graphics cards.
OCZ earlier said that it would stop making RAM modules, and instead focus on SSDs. Only two months later it acquired Indilinx, that was first to market with a cheap controller with TRIM support and for its time good performance. It is without a doubt a company that has changed in a very short time, and has now acquired PLX Technology.
PLX Technology mainly develops communcation chips for various types of units. AMD uses its for its dual GPU graphics cards to connect them though a PCI Express bus, but it also makes communication circuits for other protocols like Gigabit Ethernet, USB, SATA and FireWire for server and business solutions.
OCZ says that PLX engineers have a rumor of making innovative and reliable SoC solutions, software and firmware since the start in 1992. The deal gives OCZ around 40 new engineers, and access to its immaterial property that should lower license costs for several storage protocol related technologies. It should also be able to deliver SSDs faster to market.
If the acquisition of PLX can help the company to reduce licensing costs, and thus prices of future SSDs. OCZ has high ambitions to access the lucrative business and server market, and that is where PLX immaterial property and product portfolio will be the biggest help.
