Micromax and Phison Partner to Launch MiPhi, Powering India’s Next-Generation of NAND Storage Technology

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 19, 2024--

Micromax Informatics, India’s home-grown consumer electronics brand and Phison, a leading innovator in NAND controller and NAND storage technologies, have launched MiPhi, a strategic joint venture poised to revolutionize India’s technology landscape.

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As India emerges as a global economic hub, this partnership supports the nation's vision of ‘Making AI in India,’ aligning with its ambition to become a global leader in artificial intelligence. The strategic partnership announcement demonstrates this commitment by combining the key differentiators of two industry leaders to drive innovation, expand product offerings, and bolster India’s ambitions as a global AI superpower. With a vision to enhance GPU efficiency and deliver advanced NAND storage solutions, MiPhi will introduce the world’s lowest per-token cost and energy consumption for AI use cases.

Through MiPhi, the joint venture aims to empower the Indian market with cutting-edge NAND storage solutions, providing unparalleled convenience and technological advantages. The collaboration leverages Micromax’s deep-rooted customer relationships within India and Phison’s expertise in NAND storage technology to foster a strong, synergistic partnership that expands opportunities and business growth across enterprise, consumer, embedded, AI, and security applications within India’s burgeoning tech ecosystem and specific agreed-upon regions.

“We are thrilled to announce our joint venture with Phison, uniting our capabilities to drive a new wave of innovation in the Indian technology landscape,” said Rahul Sharma, Co-founder, Micromax Informatics. “By combining our local market expertise with Phison’s critical technological prowess, we are poised to deliver breakthrough solutions. The joint venture kicks off a new chapter with an aim to harness the full potential of emerging technologies and contribute to the future of digital transformation across industries. With this venture, we aim to bring down the cost of GPU by 1/10 th by bringing the lowest per token cost in the world. This will help us in disrupting the AI landscape not only in India but also in specific agreed-upon regions.”

“India has been a hub for technological growth, and now the vision set forth from the government further enables homegrown companies to innovate at an exponentially higher rate,” said K.S. Pua, CEO of Phison. “Phison is delighted to partner with Micromax. Together, we are committed to leveraging our combined resources and expertise to establish MiPhi as a leading force in India’s NAND storage ecosystem. By uniting Micromax’s local market understanding with Phison’s world-class storage technologies, we’re well-positioned to create impactful solutions across SMBs, automotive, IoT, AI, enterprise workloads, and beyond.

The collaboration between Micromax, leading Indian electronics brand renowned for its expertise in manufacturing and marketing tech products, and Phison, a global pioneer in NAND storage solutions and technology, will position MiPhi as a key innovation hub in India. Phison’s impressive portfolio, with over 2,000 patents and a legacy of industry-first innovations, coupled with its commitment to R&D—investing 80% of its OPEX (Operating Expense)—equips the company to provide vital technical insights to MiPhi’s operations. This strategic alliance will drive MiPhi’s contribution to India’s technological future, harnessing local manufacturing and sales channels to accelerate the growth of the country’s storage economy.

As a part of the joint venture, MiPhi’s distinctive approach to drive innovation includes:

MiPhi will specialize in custom-designed NAND storage solutions for AI, enterprise, and automotive use cases, addressing the needs of both Indian and specific agreed-upon markets. The joint venture’s focus on innovation and collaboration ensures a robust, connected ecosystem powered by advanced semiconductor solutions. With a strong local manufacturing partnership and in-house NAND controller technology, Phison reinforces its commitment to comprehensive support, including local RMA services and a sales channel to India and specific agreed-upon regions for efficient customer service.

About Micromax Informatics Ltd.

Micromax Informatics, founded in 2000 and headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana, is one of India’s leading homegrown consumer electronics brands. The company has been at the forefront of democratizing technology by offering innovative, affordable, and feature-rich products, including smartphones, laptops, tablets, and televisions. Known for its iconic Canvas series, Micromax revolutionized the Indian smartphone market by delivering advanced technology to budget-conscious consumers.

Driven by its vision of making technology accessible to all, Micromax has diversified into smart devices and consumer electronics to meet evolving customer needs. As part of its commitment to "Make in India", the brand has invested significantly in local manufacturing and innovation, supporting India's push for self-reliance in electronics production. With state-of-the-art facilities in Rudrapur, Hyderabad, Greater Noida, and Rajasthan, Micromax produces a range of products, including mobile phones and all consumer electronics. For more information, please visit: www.micromaxinfo.com

About Phison

Phison Electronics Corp. (TPEX:8299) is a global leader in NAND Flash controller IC and storage solutions. We provide a variety of services from controller design, system integration, IP licensing to total turnkey solutions, covering applications across SSD (PCIe/SATA/PATA), eMMC, UFS, SD and USB interfaces, reaching out to consumer, industrial and enterprise markets. As an active member of industry associations, Phison is on the Board of Directors for SDA, ONFI, UFSA and a contributor for JEDEC, PCI-SIG, MIPI, NVMe and IEEE-SA. For more information, please visit http://www.phison.com.

Micromax and Phison partner to launch MiPhi, a joint venture (Graphic: Business Wire)

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Cori Bush is attempting a political comeback Tuesday in a Missouri Democratic primary that tests evolving views on American-Israeli relations, just two years after the progressive “Squad” member was ousted by voters in favor of Wesley Bell.

The rematch in a heavily Democratic St. Louis district is one of several consequential primaries. In western Missouri, Republicans are picking a candidate to try to unseat Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver in a dramatically reshaped district that is part of President Donald Trump’s attempt to retain a slim House majority in the midterms.

In northern Missouri, Republicans are choosing a potential successor to retiring Rep. Sam Graves, chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Meanwhile, Missouri voters are deciding a pair of unique ballot measures backed by the Republican-led Legislature. One would require all citizen-initiated constitutional amendments to pass in each of Missouri's eight congressional districts instead of by a simple statewide majority — a high standard used by no other state. The other would direct lawmakers to repeal the state’s individual income tax while authorizing a state sales tax expansion.

The contest between Bush and Bell tests how much the Democratic Party has shifted over the past two years.

The deep-pocketed American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which lobbies for U.S. support of Israel, spent millions to help oust Bush in 2024 after she criticized Israel’s response in Gaza to the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. Bell is again supported by AIPAC.

But public opinions of Israel have since shifted, particularly among Democrats. A recent survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about 58% of Democrats now say the U.S. is “too supportive” of Israelis, up from 45% in an AP-NORC poll from January 2024.

This year's primary also could test the growing clout of democratic socialists, who have traveled from across the country to help campaign for Bush.

Bush and Bell both honed their leadership skills in Ferguson amid the racial unrest that followed the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer in 2014. Bell won election to the Ferguson City Council the next year, then defeated a seven-term St. Louis County prosecutor in the 2018 Democratic primary.

Bush, a protest leader, defeated longtime Rep. William Lacy Clay in the 2020 Democratic primary. She served two terms before being defeated by Bell.

Missouri was the second Republican state, after Texas, to respond to Trump’s call last year to redraw congressional districts to the GOP’s advantage ahead of the midterms. The revamped map stretches Cleaver’s previous Kansas City district eastward into rural central Missouri, giving the new 5th District a Republican tilt.

Cleaver is unopposed for the Democratic nomination. A six-person Republican primary features state Sen. Rick Brattin, a Marine veteran and founding member of the Missouri Freedom Caucus, a conservative faction that has challenged the legislature’s GOP leadership. Brattin now has the backing of some of Missouri's top Republicans, including Gov. Mike Kehoe, and received an endorsement from Trump on the evening before the election.

His main advertising competitor has been Taylor Burks, a Navy officer who previously served as Boone County clerk, which oversees elections in the home county of the University of Missouri.

Graves, who has represented rural northern Missouri for a quarter century, set off a political scramble when he announced in late March that he wasn’t seeking reelection. He endorsed conservative talk radio host Chris Stigall, who once worked for Graves.

The five-person Republican field in the GOP-leaning 6th District also features Kansas City Council member Nathan Willett. The recent redistricting added more northern Kansas City neighborhoods to the sprawling district. The Democratic primary has three candidates.

A constitutional amendment placed on the ballot by Republican state lawmakers would make it harder for citizen-initiated amendments to win voter approval. The measure comes after voters narrowly passed several controversial citizen initiatives, including ones enshrining abortion rights into the state constitution, legalizing recreational marijuana, allowing sports betting and expanding Medicaid coverage to low-income adults.

None of those would have passed under the proposed requirement that citizen-initiated amendments win majority approval in every congressional district. Under Amendment 4, constitutional amendments proposed by the Legislature would still need just a statewide majority.

Amendment 5 would direct the Legislature to gradually eliminate the individual income tax as state revenue grows. It also would allow lawmakers to raise revenue by expanding the sales tax to “any goods and services” — giving them five years to decide which sales to tax without needing further voter approval.

The Missouri measure marks the first time since the modern income tax began over a century ago that a U.S. state legislature has asked voters whether to eliminate the tax. Alaska is the only state so far to impose a general individual income tax and then repeal it, doing so in 1980 by a legislative vote.

Massachusetts voters rejected income tax eliminations in 2002 and 2008 that were initiated by citizens, not lawmakers.

FILE - The Missouri Capitol is shown on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Jefferson City, Mo. (AP Photo/David A. Lieb, File)

U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., with U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell, D-Mo., at a healthcare rally hosted by Congressman Bell and Affinia Healthcare on Friday, July 24, 2026 in Ferguson, Mo. (AP Photo/Michael Thomas)

U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell, D-Mo., speaks at a healthcare rally hosted by him and Affinia Healthcare on Friday, July 24, 2026 in Ferguson, Mo. (AP Photo/Michael Thomas)