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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (47098)	5/22/2001 1:41:46 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Taiwanese firm contemplates another 300mm wafer fab By Faith Hung EBN (05/21/01 22:22 p.m. EST) HSINCHU, Taiwan -- In a sign of confidence that the semiconductor market will turn around in the next year or two, ProMos Technologies Inc. is planning to build its second 300mm wafer facility. ProMos, 33%-owned by Infineon Technologies AG, said that the planned fab is tentatively slated to reach mass production in 2004. The production site could be in Taiwan or overseas, said a ProMos official, adding that no other details were available. For the current 300mm wafer fab of ProMos, the company is set to ramp up the line in August, using 0.14-micron process technology to produce 256 MB double-date-rate (DDR) chips, the official said. As DRAM chips are a commodity, it's important for companies likeProMos to expand production lines to grab market share. "To increase our share when the market recovers, we have to arrange plans for bigger capacity starting right now," said the spokesman for ProMos. "Our strategy is to expand at the market downturn, and profit when the cycle picks up." Not everyone is as optimistic as ProMos, though. Mosel Vitelic Inc., which holds nearly 48% of ProMos, gave up a 300mm wafer project in Canada, as it couldn't get enough funding from the Canadian government. Winbond Electronics Corp., a DRAM supplier to Toshiba Corp., has said it will drop a similar project in Taiwan's Tainan science park, in part due to concerns of vibration from a high-speed bullet train that passes by. For the past few months, weak demand has sent the spot prices of standard 64 MB DRAM and higher-end 256 MB DRAM into a tailspin. Almost all of the DRAM makers in Taiwan -- which contributes about one-tenth of worldwide output of the devices -- suffered operating losses in the March quarter. The only exception was Powerchip Semiconductor Corp., which supplies the memory chips to Mitsubishi Electric, Corp. of Japan. Powerchip is planning to have volume runs at its new 300 mm fab in the first half of next year, with the plant's shell being completed and equipment being moved in later this year. The company's roadmap shows Powerchip will use the 0.15 micron process technology developed by Mitsubishi, analysts said. As the price fall of DRAM widens, Taiwan's players are pinning their hopes by migrating to the 12-inch wafers to save costs and remain competitive. "Without moving up to the 300mm technology in the next two years, a DRAM maker wouldn't be able to compete in the market," said Alfred Yin, research head of BNP Paribas Peregrine Securities in Hong Kong. A 12-inch wafer yields more than twice the output of a traditional 8-inch wafer. For its first 300mm wafer facility, ProMos is expecting a monthly production of 4,000 to 5,000 wafers from the first quarter of 2002, climbing to 9,000 wafers in the third quarter, said the official. ProMos is also running a 200 mm wafer plant in Hsinchu.