This, according to Rambus, will ensure a seamless transition of DRAM sales fromthe NEC and Hitachi brands over to the Elpida brand. Meanwhile, NEC and Hitachi, theparent companies, both retain their previously announced licenses with Rambus for bothSDRAM and DDR SDRAM memory and controllers that directly connect to them. As is typical with Rambus licenses in these fields, the royalty rates for DDR SDRAMwill be greater than the RDRAM compatible rates. The agreement also includes royalties forSDRAM as well as a license fee for the entire agreement. Established in December 1999, Elpida was Hitachi and NEC's groundbreaking answerto each parent company's declining market share in the memory market. Formed tocombine each company's DRAM products and design skills with economies of scale,Elpida will enter the DRAM market in January 2001 with 11.5 percent market share, and willgrow to more than 20 percent market share by 2003.