Taiwan Makers Say 64Mb DRAM Chip Prices Continue Sliding
February 15, 2000 (TAIPEI) -- Prices of 64Mb dynamic random access memory (DRAM) microchips, which began to fall early this year, drifted below US$7.00, and DRAM makers said they did not expect the slide to bottom out soon.
Sources in the U.S. semiconductor industry quoted the average price of a standard 64Mb DRAM at US$7.00 on Feb. 8. Some of the microchips were selling for as little as US$6.79, and they even declined to the level of US$6.68-US$6.88 on Feb. 9.
Makers of DRAMs expect the supply-demand conditions to be in balance around the beginning of the third quarter, and they generally expect a supply shortage to emerge gradually in the fourth quarter's boom season.
Also, concern is growing that the prices could slide further if large U.S. and Korean producers are tempted to dump the excess stocks that they hold.
Another factor causing uncertainty in the industry is that many DRAM makers are expected to upgrade their capacity in the second half of the year, by introducing the new 0.18-micron manufacturing process.
This technological advance is being led by the local giants Winbond Electronics Corp., Powerchip Semiconductor Corp., and Promos Technologies Inc.
Winbond plans to start with small-scale 0.18 micron 64Mb DRAM manufacturing until it reaches a reasonable level of efficiency.
Powerchip plans to advance into 0.18-micron manufacturing in the third quarter. It will increase its monthly capacity from the present 22,000 units to 30,000 units by the end of the year. However, Powerchip will face additional cost pressures from a decision to move from 0.26-micron to 0.18-micron manufacturing.
Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp. recently announced that trial production using 0.18-micron 64Mb DRAM technology has been successful. Meanwhile, Promos said it will concentrate on 128Mb DRAMs in the early stages of accessing the 0.175-micron process, and will later switch to 256Mb DRAMs and 64Mb DRAMs.
DRAM makers admitted that the 0.18-micron process, a new process developed from the existing 0.20-micron and 0.25-micron processes, has resulted in various technical difficulties. They said that the process would not by fully accepted by the local industry before mid-year.
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