Tech: 4DS feels the pain from San Francisco lockdown

The coronavirus continues to cause havoc for ASX-listed small caps, and San Fransisco based 4DS Memory (ASX:4DS) was not immune.

The semiconductor manufacturer said its operations will be affected by a legal order from regional authorities, directing citizens to stay at home for the next three weeks.

As a result, 4DS said its technical team will not be able to work on site at its manufacturing hub in the local district of Fremont.

Services businesses globally are scrambling to set up remote-working capabilitiy to maintain some semblance of business-as-usual in the crisis.

But for a business which makes physical products such as 4DS, it’s been left with no choice but to suspend operations.

The company is developing high-grade storage memory, with improved wafer technology which matches the industry standard for speed (dynamic random-access memory – DRAM) but uses less power and space.

Back in January, the company said it was working with its development partner, imec, to commence the production of 18 300mm wafers for improved memory storage.

Once received, 4DS said it would conduct “extensive testing and analysis of these wafers and will report results within a month”.

However, as a result of the lockdown 4DS said it will not receive the wafers within the timeline previously outlined. Before the crisis hit, 4DS was planning to complete production of a megabit memory chip by the end of 2020.

Shares in the company dipped by another 14 per cent this morning, and are down almost 50 per cent since the market commenced its slide in late February.