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Elpida & PSC form 4 fab joint venture |
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Dec 07, 2006 at 02:36 PM |
 Elpida Memory, Inc. and Powerchip Semiconductor Corp. (PSC) have formed a new Joint Venture (JV) company that will operate up to four 300mm fabs that will be based at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP) in Taichung, Houli, Taiwan. The new JV will also see PSC gain access to Elpida's advanced DRAM process technology in the future.
"Now is the time for us to make our move into PC DRAM production to be the number one player in the DRAM industry," said Yukio Sakamoto, President and CEO of Elpida. "We have decided to do so because we have gained credibility for our advanced DDR2 SDRAM backed up by the high productivity at our E300 fab in Hiroshima. Moreover, we are very confident in our 70nm process technology, soon to be in mass production in our E300 fab. We are very happy to be able to transfer this new technology to ramp up our new joint fab."
At an estimated investment of $14 billion US dollars, each fab will have a capacity of 60,000 (300mm) wafers per month, according to a press statement, though previously PSC had stated that the fabs under construction would each have a capacity of 70,000wspm.
Currently, PSC is constructing two 300mm fabs at the site - fabs 12C/D - however, these facilities will become part of the new JV and are being renamed Fab 1 & 2 with a further two fabs planned in the future and subject to demand. Fab 1's first phase tool install is expected in the second quarter of 2007 with mass production in the third quarter and will have an initial ramp of 30,000wspm and use Elpida's 70nm DRAM process technology.
The JV partners claimed that the four fabs would result in a combined capacity of 240,000wspm and thus would be the largest cluster of 300mm fabs anywhere in the world.
Elpida had stated previously that it was evaluating building a new 300mm fab for DRAM production with sites in Singapore, China and Japan under consideration. However, the JV with PSC extends the foundry agreement that Elpida has with the Taiwan chip manufacturer and enables a faster ramp with shared costs at a site already under construction.
PSC/Elpida's Site Plan
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