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Marc: That brings us to another topic that we included today in Marc & Stuart’s Top Picks list. And you may be surprised to hear that it’s another ReRAM play. 4DS Memory has had a very bumpy ride, to say the least, over the last month or so because of a delay in the development process. So share price came down from 14 cents to 4.7 cents, and that it kept price at 4.8. We bought a little bit of stock. So we’re positioned in that stock. So just as a disclosure, by the way, we own 4DS Memory…sorry, Weebit Nano as well.
But we’ve got to ReRAM stocks now on Marc & Stuart’s Top Picks list. So we thought it might make sense just to put them side by side and see what’s what, and who’s who, and what the differences are. So what’s ReRAM? ReRAM is basically a new type of technology, resistive random access memory, and it sits between flash memory and DRAM. Flash memory, as you may know, is non-volatile. It sits in your mobile phone to store pictures, for instance, and videos, but also in data centers.
Every time you switch off the power the information is still retained, unlike DRAM, which is at the other end of the spectrum where that needs to be refreshed every couple of milliseconds. And it’s therefore very energy-consuming as opposed to flash. But that is used for working memory in a computer. Now, the [inaudible 00:01:35] are very different as well. DRAM is extremely fast and flash is relatively slow. But also, that means in terms of pricing DRAM is very expensive and flash memory is fairly cheap.
Whereas ReRAM positions, sort of, well, not in the middle but more to the left when it comes to…more towards DRAM when it comes to speed and costs. It’s more expensive than flash, but it’s a lot faster than flash as well. And ReRAM is a new technology that has been developed by Weebit Nano by 4DS Memory. And TMC, for instance, has developed its own ReRAM in-house. And we think this can partially replace DRAM or flash, at some point. And so that’s what the product is.
But really, if you look at Weebit Nano and 4DS Memory, we have two of them now on the top picks list, but the differences are quite significant in some cases. So let’s have a look. The technology itself, Weebit is developed filamentary ReRAM. Basically, you’ve got two electrodes, and putting a voltage on them will create a filament, a connection between the two electrodes, which lowers the resistance. And ReRAM, because it’s a resistive type of memory, that’s how it works for Weebit. 4DS Memory is got a different type of technology.
It’s got two electrodes as well, and putting a voltage on that will create a complete new resistance level between the two electrodes, not just one line between the two but the whole, basically, sandwiched, the whole thing will become more or less resistive. So it’s a different type of technology. Weebit addresses both the embedded market and the discrete market. Embedded means a tiny amount of memory into a chip that could be used for anything, really, from microwaves to cars to dishwashers, whatever it might be.
Discrete markets is where you’ve got Gigabit chips, so for huge storage on phones in the cloud. And that’s the only thing that 4DS is focusing on. So only on discrete storage class memory applications. Weebit wants to commercialize the technology itself and they signed a deal, their first deal with SkyWater recently. 4DS Memory aims to sell the technology once it’s developed to the point where it’s ready to be sold. And we think that will be late 2022. So they’re about two years behind Weebit Nano when it comes to that, but they’re not looking to commercialize it themselves.
So they’ll try to sell to a strategic partner. Finally, market cap of Weebit Nano right now, and it’s actually been higher because the market is up today, but, say, 440 million, roughly. Market cap of 4DS Memory after the crash around 63, 65 million. So there’s a big gap there. So you’re taking a bit more risk, a lot more risk with 4DS because technology has been completely developed to the point where you can commercialize, but the valuation is so much lower, that it’s probably worth taking a part in that one. That’s why we’ve got both of them on our Top Picks list, Stuart.
Stuart: And if 4DS is only two years behind, but at least four or five times the share price behind, it’s gonna be a good couple of years for 4DS from here.
Marc: Well, that’s the point. I mean, you got higher risk, but the returns in the near term should be higher compared to Weebit. Although Weebit Nano longer term, it’s one of our core holdings. We’ll be sitting on that one for a couple of years to come. But, yeah, you’re right, Stuart, the evaluation difference is what makes 4DS attractive right now.
