Fujitsu Exec Sees Memory Price Relief
From Page One of Electronic News: August 31, 1998 Issue
By Jim DeTar
Tokyo--Pricing in the memory market may have bottomed out, with a possible 4Q98 uptick on the way. At least that's the viewpoint of one top memory executive, Kazunari Shirai, senior VP of Fujitsu Ltd.'s Electronic Devices Group here. According to Mr. Shirai, the number two Fujitsu memory executive worldwide, Fujitsu's memory orders are up and pricing is more stable than it has been in a year.
Fujitsu has just begun production of 64-megabit synchronous DRAMs at the 0.22-micron level and would certainly like to see a return to more normal pricing. Fujitsu recently announced it will start volume production of the 64Mb family here in late September, priced at around $12 per unit, and it is expected that it will expand production to the company's Gresham, Ore. Manufacturing facilities in mid-Autumn.
"At this time, there is almost no 64-megabit inventory in either Japan or the U.S. and Fujitsu's domestic (Japan) production is steady," Mr. Shirai said in comments made here in Japan recently.
"For 16-megabit products, there remains an imbalance due to remaining high capacity in Taiwan and Korea. The Iwate factory did complete a short summer vacation," he noted.
One factor that bodes well for a strengthening in memory prices is an uptick in sales at Fujitsu. "Sales strengthened in July, the third consecutive 'up' month from the low point in April, and Fujitsu's own 'book-to-bill' ratio is now 1.44, up from 0.77 at the low." September is expected to remain strong, Mr. Shirai said. "It may be a temporary upswing, however; it is too soon to tell if that is the case."
Leading PC manufacturers have indicated that the imbalances in the product pipeline are being eliminated quickly now, in part because of Windows 98 which has incrementally helped sales. Furthermore, Fujitsu's sales increase was not achieved by reducing prices, according to Mr. Shirai. "Fujitsu is focused on leadership in OEM supply and is not, and will not, attempt to be a low-cost producer.
"So, the company is not going to focus on making 'low-end' memory products. However, the DRAM business means a lot to our semiconductor business, as DRAM is important as a technology driver and, after the year 2000, DRAM becomes a core technology."
The next generation program at Fujitsu, as at several other memory vendors, involves 128Mb and 256Mb products "which are now in the roadmap," he said, "with first samples of the 256Mb memory ICs scheduled for mid-1999 and production on 256Mb in the year 2000." The U.S. could see production of these by the end of 1999.
"Fujitsu also is in the front line of the introduction of 300-millimeter wafers and is very committed to the system LSI concept," Mr. Shirai said, citing LSI cooperative agreements with companies such as Sony Corp. in Japan.
Fujitsu holds a somewhat unique position in the memory market because it is one of the few producers that is in volume production with both SDRAMs and flash memory. Sales of these two products totals 35 percent of the product mix of the Electronic Devices Group and about 18 percent of that is flash memory.
"Fujitsu, while attempting to increase its logic IC revenue and firming its system LSI commitments, continues to commit to these two vital memory sectors. Flash is growing very quickly in embedded applications and in mobile designs; and improvements in SDRAM technology benefits the PC.
"Fujitsu believes it is well-positioned in both the telecommunications and computer systems markets," Mr. Shirai added.
Fujitsu, like other major Japanese companies, has reduced its capital expenditures as a result of the ongoing economic crunch in Asia. For FY98, such expenses will be reduced to about $1B from $1.8B in FY97. "We do not foresee a capital equipment expansion soon," he noted.
Despite this, Teradyne is expected to reveal today that Fujitsu has ordered VX software and multiple Catalyst Superchip Test Systems for the verification and testing of next-generation multimedia ICs. Initial product shipments began last quarter.
Teradyne said its VX software was a key deciding factor for Fujitsu choosing the ATE vendor. VX software is the company's new generation of test simulation software linking Image software to industry design simulators like Verilog, Saber and Spectre.
Meanwhile, Fujitsu's Intel PC/100 conformant device boasts a chip area of just 51.34 millimeters, claimed by the company to be the industry's smallest 64Mb SDRAM that conforms to the Intel PC/100 spec.
The new device features an address access time of 16ns (nanoseconds) or less. It is available in x4, x8 and x16-bit configuration, all of which provide the same address access time. Fujitsu said its move to 0.22-micron geometry was instrumental in reducing address access time from the previous 26ns to 16ns or less.
"With their faster speeds and higher functionality, SDRAMs are replacing EDO DRAMs as the device of choice for personal computer and workstation main memories," asserted John McElroy, VP of marketing, Fujitsu Microelectronics (U.S.) "Fujitsu has been an innovator in SDRAM technology since its arrival in 1995, and we are continuing that commitment to leadership with the development of these PC/100 versions." |
