recently talked to Chih-Yuan Lu, president of NOR flash and ROM maker Macronix International Company (MXIC), about the changing market landscape for NOR flash memory and how Macronix would differentiate itself from competitors. Lu said that the NOR flash industry is about to go through a major consolidation in 2010 starting with the recent acquisitions of Silicon Storage Technology (SST) and Numonyx. Despite rising competition in the sector, Macronix positions itself as a specialist of NOR flash chips rather than a player providing a comprehensive range of memory products.The following is a summary of Lu's views on the NOR flash landscape and the improving market conditions.Macronix' dedication to NOR flashMergers and consolidations are positive for an industry that looks to become sustainable. Micron's move to acquire Numonyx is aimed at offering a one-stop shop for memory chips, and grow its competitiveness against Samsung Electronics. Taking over Numonyx will allow Micron to offer a complete portfolio of memory products by adding NOR flash.Elpida Memory has also followed suit, with news that it already acquired a portion of Spansion's R&D assets. The Japan-based vendor also plans to offer one-stop-shopping solutions, in a move to bring itself closer to Samsung.Differing from big players, which provide a combination of memory types, Macronix is dedicated to producing parallel flash and serial flash products. "We specialize in the area that those big players consider it too niche to pay too much attention to." said Lu.With big players jumping into the NOR flash market by combining Macronix' peer rivals, Macronix and other surviving players will actually benefit from the more consolidated industry over the next two to three years.No new capacityThe market for NOR flash chips will remain tight through the second quarter, mainly because there has been no new capacity over recent years when suppliers suffered a supply glut and lost money. Spansion's move to cut back its production due to its restructuring process has also led to a further squeeze on chip supply.However, Macronix is keeping an eye on customers' possible double ordering, as the practice is common when there is a shortage.It will take some time for Micron to complete its integration with Numonyx. Macronix does not expect to see any significant growth in global supply of NOR flash chips in the short term.Demand from customers across the PC, communications and consumer electronics sectors is also picking up, which has also cause a tighter market.