The big picture: Micron Technology is washing its hands of 3D XPoint, the memory technology it announced alongside Intel back in 2015. The company has halted R&D and is putting its fab up for sale. Unless a new owner scoops up the ashes and does something revolutionary with it, we've perhaps seen the last of 3D XPoint. Maybe Intel will want it after all?
Micron said that effective immediately, they will cease development of 3D XPoint as they have determined that there is "insufficient market validation to justify the ongoing high levels of investments required to successfully commercialize 3D XPoint at scale."
Furthermore, the company is looking to sell its Lehi, Utah, fab that is currently dedicated to making 3D XPoint products. With any luck, the memory maker hopes to wrap up a sales agreement by the end of the year.
With 3D XPoint out of the way, Micron is now free to focus on memory and storage innovations for the data center. Specifically, Micron is shifting gears to Compute Express Link (CXL), a recently introduced interface that "enables flexible connection between compute, memory and storage."
As AnandTech recounts, Intel has primarily used 3D XPoint in its Optane brand SSDs and for caching purposes. Micron exercised its option to buy out Intel's stake in the joint venture in 2018 and did put out one drive based on the tech, the X100, but it seemingly had a very limited release.
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