Hi Everybody....here's a story on a New Fab in Taiwan....it appears the plot sickens for MU, but only gets more positive for AMAT (To me, anyway)
A service of Semiconductor Business News, CMP Media Inc.
Story posted at 9:45 a.m. EDT/6:45 a.m. PDT, 5/22/97
Powerchip plans 300-mm DRAM fab in Taiwan
By Mark LaPedus
HSINCHU, Taiwan -- Powerchip Semiconductor Corp. is the latest Taiwan chip maker to announce plans that it will build a 300-mm wafer fab on the island.
Powerchip--a joint DRAM venture between Taiwan's Umax Group and Japan's Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and Kanamatsu Corp.--set plans to break ground on a 12-inch fab at the Hsinchu Science-Based Industrial Park by the end of this year.
The fab will produce 256-Mbit DRAMs, the Hsinchu-based company said, without elaborating on the timetable of the new fab.
Separately, Powerchip will also boost its production of 16-Megabit DRAMs, and will move into 64-Mbit memory production by the end of this year--which is several months ahead of its original schedule, according to Michael Tsai, senior vice president and general manager of the company.
In 1994, Powerchip obtained its 16- and 64-Mbit DRAM technologies from Mitsubishi. Powerchip does not sell DRAMs under its own logo; these products are made in Taiwan for resale worldwide by Mitsubishi.
In recent months, a significant percentage of Mitsubishi's own 16-Mbit DRAM production has been shifted over to Powerchip. ``We're becoming the workhorse for Mitsubishi,'' Tsai said. ``Mitsubishi will produce the higher-end DRAM products in Japan. We will produce the low-end DRAMs in Taiwan for Mitsubishi.''
Powerchip plans to boost its production of 16-Mbit DRAMs from 3.3 million units per month now, to 5 million units by the end of 1997.
Analysts said Mitsubishi has been impressed with Powerchip's ability to ramp up its DRAMs in just a short period--with higher-than-expected yields, said Jason Lin, research manager for The New Century Group in Taipei. ----END-----
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