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To: Mani1 who wrote (22787)	8/3/1999 10:07:00 AM
From: BillyG	Respond to of 25960

Samsung starts building 256M DRAM plant Samsung Electronics Co. has begun to construct facilities for mass production of a high-density 256-megabit DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chip, which is rapidly emerging as the profitable next-generation memory chip, company sources said yesterday. Sources said Samsung had broken ground for the 10th production line for 256M DRAM chips at the new chip complex now under construction in Hwasung county, Kyonggi Province. Samsung originally planned to start work on the 10th line in the first half of next year. "We moved up the schedule to benefit from the initial market for the profitable high-density 256M memory chip," said a company official. The sooner memory chipmakers can make the switch from 64M chips, the current mainstay, to 256M chips, the earlier they can ship a higher proportion of chips at premium prices, he said. The world's largest memory chipmaker, Samsung has already been shipping the high-capacity memory chips, though in small quantities, at its 9th production line, using the advanced 0.18-micron process technology. The 10th line will adopt the more advanced 0.13-micron process technology to 0.15-micron processing equipment - the world's finest process technology for memory chip yields, sources said. The earlier addition of the new assembly line comes amid the global trend toward mergers and acquisitions in the chip industry. To achieve economy of scale, Micron Technology of the United States took over the DRAM unit of Texas Instruments, followed by a similar merger between Japan's NEC and Hitachi early this year. Korea's Hyundai Electronics Industries has also absorbed LG Semicon to launch a behemoth chip manufacturer as early as October. Samsung earlier said it plans to ship up to 1.5 million 256M DRAM chips by the end of this year and increase production to 5 million units by 2000. Initially, the company expects the new chip to be priced at a premium of $400 per unit. Experts say the global 256M DRAM chip market will reach $3 billion in 2000 and expand to $10 billion by the end of 2001. Updated: 07/31/1999 by Nam In-soo Staff reporter koreaherald.co.kr