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To: etchmeister who wrote (3684)	2/28/2008 12:08:01 AM
From: etchmeister	Respond to of 3813

PSC to adopt 60nm process in second half of 2008 (looks like copper is coming; me thinks few understand the fundamental changes associated with changing the backend process away from Al/2%Cu) Printer friendly Related stories Comments Email to a friend Latest news Hans Wu, Taipei; Joseph Tsai, DIGITIMES [Wednesday 27 February 2008] Powerchip Semiconductor Corporation (PSC) expects DRAM demand to outstrip supply in the fourth quarter this year, while the company schedules to switch to the 60nm processing node in the second half of the year to help balance its costs and profitability, chairman Frank Huang has disclosed. According to Huang, in order for DRAM makers to advance their processing technology, they need to invest heavily in equipment. PSC invested NT$30 billion (US$961.27 million) to advance from 90nm to 70nm, and the company will invest another few billion dollars to push technology from 70nm to 60nm in the future. Currently, DRAM makers are all facing difficulties in securing funding for expansion from outside sources, while also trying to cope with the large spending challenges due to unstable DRAM prices. PSC completed its large investments in 2007 and does not have any scheduled for 2008, giving the company an advantage over its competitors, Huang pointed out. 70nm processing will be PSC's primary node for the first half of 2008, but the company will switch to 60nm in the second half, allowing it to produce around 1,000 each chips per wafer. In 2009, the company will step into 50nm processing increasing chip volumes to around 1,400 units per wafer. Although 70nm processing is currently unable to deliver profits for PSC, once it progresses to 60nm, the company expects it profit and cost ratio to become more healthy.