Chip makers face hurdles in 256MB DRAM production
By Yuko Inoue
TOKYO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Moves by Japan's Mitsubishi
Electric Corpand Oki Electric Industry Co away from DRAM
mass-production mark the start of a survival race for chip
makers as they face the technically challenging production of
256-megabit DRAMs, analysts say.
Mitsubishi and Oki said on Tuesday they would give up a
strategy of relying on volume sales of general-use dynamic
random access memory (DRAM) chips, starting with the
next-generation 256-megabit DRAMs, although they would continue
to develop and produce them as a base technology for custom-made
products.
The firms said they would shift focus in the 256-megabit
DRAM business to logic chips with built-in DRAMs and
sophisticated high-speed products tailored to customers' needs.
"We'll curtail investment in general-use 256-megabit DRAMs
to a minimum," a Mitsubishi spokesman said.
The 256-megabit DRAMs are expected to emerge as mainstay
memories for personal computers in around 2000. Chip makers are
likely to launch investment in the facilities around 1999.
Analysts expect gaps in manufacturer competitiveness to
widen with the next-generation chips, which require high levels
of expertise with new production equipment and materials,
sophisticated production processing controls and etching
technologies.
"Technical hurdles for 256-megabit DRAMs are very high,"
said Mami Indo, an analyst at Daiwa Research Institute.
"Many chip makers will be forced to change their strategies
so they can concentrate their resources in specialised areas,"
she said.
Japan's Hitachi Ltd, for instance, could seek a strategy
shift similar to those of Mitsubishi and Oki shortly, she said.
Analysts said competitiveness among chip manufacturers had
tightened since the early 1990s with the production of
previous-generation 16-megabit DRAMs and 4-megabit DRAMs.
Development of chip production equipment such as steppers and
testers had made the technology accessible for new entrants,
increasing the number of suppliers and causing supply gluts
along with a sharp fall in chip prices, analysts said.
Naoki Sato, an analyst at HSBC Securities Japan Ltd, said
the current situation had made it difficult for chip makers to
earn large profits from mass-production of DRAMs, although the
situation was unclear for the next-generation chips.
In sharp contrast to chip manufacturers dented by large
operating losses, Nikon Corp, Advantest Corpand other
chip-production equipment makers are enjoying booming profits
helped by sales increases in Asia.
Last summer, Advantest revised upwards its group net profit
forecast for the year to March 31 to 38 billion yen from an
earlier estimate of 29 billion yen.
Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service |
