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Spansion to tap TSMC’s 300mm fabs for MirrorBit production |
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Jul 20, 2006 at 04:01 PM |
 Spansion Inc has announced that it is to expand its foundry
partnership with TSMC that will include an increase in production
capacity by using the foundry's 300mm wafer fabs and migrate Spansion's
MirrorBit technology to the 90nm node. The previous agreement between
the companies was for TSMC to fabricate Spansion's 110nm MirrorBit
technology at 200mm wafer fabs, which began in 2Q06. The new agreement
targets production ramp in the second half of 2007.
"Demand for our MirrorBit products is strong," said Jim Doran, chief
operating officer of Spansion. "By expanding our agreement with the
leading foundry supplier we gain additional flexibility in our business
and can align our manufacturing capacity to fluctuating demand. This
allows us to maintain a steady supply to customers while ensuring
maximum operational efficiency."
Currently, TSMC has two 300mm fabs in production (Fab12 & Fab14),
however Fab12 is reaching full capacity while Fab14 has been receiving
a large portion of TSMC's capital expenditure this year in an effort to
significantly ramp its newest 300mm facility.
Both Spansion and Intel Corp, the two major NOR Flash chip
manufacturers have seen increased demand this year as mobile phone
sales are projected to reach close to a billion unit production/sales
levels in 2006. Both companies have reported increased production
levels this year to meet that demand.
Spansion is planning to fabricate 45nm MirrorBit devices at it JV 300mm
facility (SP1 in Aizu-Wakamatsu Japan) with Fujitsu mid 2008 with an
option on 65nm production in 2007 when the facility comes on stream.
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