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Equity Method Investments
3 Months Ended
Dec. 03, 2015
Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures [Abstract]  
Equity Method Investments
Equity Method Investments

As of
 
December 3, 2015
 
September 3, 2015
 
 
Investment Balance
 
Ownership Percentage
 
Investment Balance
 
Ownership Percentage
Inotera(1)
 
$
1,296

 
33
%
 
$
1,332

 
33
%
Tera Probe
 
41

 
40
%
 
38

 
40
%
Other
 
14

 
Various

 
9

 
Various

 
 
$
1,351

 
 

 
$
1,379

 
 

(1) 
Entity is a variable interest entity.

As of December 3, 2015, substantially all of our maximum exposure to loss from our VIEs that were not consolidated was the $1.30 billion carrying value of our investment in Inotera.  We may also incur losses in connection with our rights and obligations to purchase all of Inotera's wafer production capacity under our supply agreements with Inotera.

We recognize our share of earnings or losses from our equity method investees generally on a two-month lag.  Equity in net income (loss) of equity method investees, net of tax, included the following:

Quarter ended
 
December 3,
2015
 
December 4,
2014
Inotera
 
$
52

 
$
129

Tera Probe
 
3

 
(7
)
Other
 
4

 
2

 
 
$
59

 
$
124


Inotera

We have partnered with Nanya in Inotera, a Taiwan DRAM memory company, since 2009.  As of December 3, 2015, we held a 33% ownership interest in Inotera, Nanya and certain of its affiliates held a 32% ownership interest, and the remaining ownership interest in Inotera was publicly held. On December 14, 2015, we entered into an agreement to acquire the remaining interest in Inotera. (See "Planned Acquisition of Inotera and License Agreement with Nanya – Acquisition of Remaining Inotera Shares" note.)

As of December 3, 2015, the market value of our equity interest in Inotera was $1.55 billion based on the closing trading price of 23.70 New Taiwan dollars per share in an active market. As of December 3, 2015 and September 3, 2015, there were losses of $77 million and gains of $13 million, respectively, in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) for cumulative translation adjustments from our equity investment in Inotera.

From January 2013 through December 2015, we purchased all of Inotera's DRAM output under a supply agreement at prices reflecting discounts from market prices for our comparable components. We purchased $379 million and $729 million of DRAM products from Inotera in the first quarters of 2016 and 2015, respectively, at costs higher than the costs of similar products manufactured in our wholly-owned facilities. The supply agreement with Inotera (as extended in December 2015, subsequent to the end of our first quarter of 2016) has an initial three-year term, followed by a three-year wind-down period. Upon termination of the initial three-year term, the share of Inotera's capacity we would purchase would decline over the wind-down period. Effective beginning on January 1, 2016, the price for DRAM products sold to us is based on a formula that equally shares margin between Inotera and us.

Tera Probe

In 2013, we acquired a 40% interest in Tera Probe, which provides semiconductor wafer testing and probe services to us and others. The initial net carrying value of our investment was less than our proportionate share of Tera Probe's equity and the difference is being amortized as a credit to our earnings through equity in net income (loss) of equity method investees (the "Tera Probe Amortization"). As of December 3, 2015, the remaining balance of the Tera Probe Amortization was $23 million and is expected to be amortized over a weighted-average period of seven years. Based on closing trading prices, the market value of our equity interest in Tera Probe was $38 million as of December 3, 2015 and $31 million as of September 30, 2015. We evaluated our investment in Tera Probe and concluded that the decline in the market value below our carrying value did not indicate an other-than-temporary impairment primarily because of the market value improvement subsequent to September 30, 2015, the limited amount of time the market value was below carrying value, and historical volatility of Tera Probe's stock price. We incurred manufacturing costs for the first quarters of 2016 and 2015 of $21 million and $25 million, respectively, for services performed by Tera Probe.