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To: BillyG who wrote (19691)	9/27/1998 11:33:00 PM
From: FJB	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25960

Today's dismal DRAM market and the very high capital expenditures needed for future fab equipment were factors in precluding 256-Mbit production, Gupte acknowledged. Oki currently has 0.32-micron wafer processes, he said, but 256-Mbit production requires sub-0.25-micron design rules on costly new deep-ultraviolet (DUV) lithography equipment. Oki is not alone among DRAM makers with limited DUV capability. One of the largest memory suppliers needing to upgrade to DUV is South Korea's LG Semicon Co. Ltd., said George Burns, of Strategic Marketing Associates, Santa Cruz, Calif. The pending merger of LG Semicon's and Hyundai Electronics Industries Co. Ltd.'s chip operations could add Hyundai's DUV capabilities and possibly expand sub-0.25-micron wafer fab lines for future 256-Mbit chips, sources said. Texas Instruments Inc., facing the same dilemma of little DUV capacity, sold off its DRAM fabs to Micron Technology Inc., which plans to upgrade them. Motorola Inc. last year exited the DRAM market, although the chip maker has extensive DUV fab lines. techweb.com