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Technology Stocks : Applied Materials No-Politics Thread (AMAT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (443)	11/12/2001 9:04:52 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

Winbond Teams with Sharp in Support of 8-In. Wafer Plant November 12, 2001 (TAIPEI) -- Alarmed by expanding losses in its DRAM division and the decision by its technology source, Toshiba Corp., to opt out of the DRAM market, Winbond Electronics Corp. said it plans to gradually withdraw from the standard DRAM business. The company made the statement at a presentation given to institutional investors. Winbond said it will shift its focus to niche-based DRAM chips and the flash memory chip market. For this reason, Winbond has signed a contract with Japan's Sharp Corp. to jointly develop a manufacturing process for 0.18-micron version and more advanced flash memory chips. The company predicted flash memory chips would account for half the production capacity of its 8-in. wafer plant in 2004. Winbond's chairman Arthur Chiao illustrated the company's deployment in the memory chip-making industry at the seminar by saying the company would gradually move away from being a standard DRAM maker. Winbond will transform itself into a manufacturer of more profitable DRAM chips and flash-memory chips, and become a leading design house in the logistic IC field, because of the potential difficulty of acquiring DRAM technology in the wake of Toshiba's withdrawal. Germany's Infineon Technologies AG and Toshiba Corp. have been discussing combining their DRAM operations since the summer, and are expected to reach a decision by the end of December. Winbond has decided to phase out its standard DRAM operations, and introduce niche DRAM chips and flash memory chips, which are expected to account for half of its 8-in. wafer plant's capacity in 2004. During the next three years, standard DRAM chips will be the core products of Winbond's 8-in. wafer plant, as DRAM chips made with the 8-in. manufacturing process remain competitive for the time being. To speed up its entry in the flash memory market, Winbond announced it is teaming with Sharp. Winbond and Sharp will jointly develop advanced contactless technology first (ACT1) flash memory chips with 0.18-micron to 0.13-micron versions of manufacturing processes. The initial 0.13-micron version of the ACT1 product will debut in a 128Mb or 256Mb flash memory chip, slated to come on stream in the first quarter in 2004. In the future, on the basis of the developed technology, the two companies can launch the following product designs by themselves and license to each other for own-brand sales. Separately, Winbond will provide the capacity in its 8-in. plant to contract manufacture the products for Sharp. Chiao said the cooperation with Sharp would facilitate Winbond's development of 0.18-micron 32Mb NOR flash memory chips, slated for mass production in the fourth quarter of 2002, and production of low-power DRAM chips and IT pseudo SRAM chips. This will improve the company's ability to prepare for the expected boom in mobile electronics devices. (Commercial Times, Taiwan)