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Elpida postponing operations start of China-based DRAM manufacturing joint venture
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Elpida
Memory, Inc. announced its plans to postpone the start of operations of
its China-based DRAM manufacturing joint venture, which the company
announced on 6 August. In addition, as the company posted on Thursday
its fourth straight quarterly loss on the prolonged slump in chip
prices, it said it would cut capital spending to between ¥90 and ¥95
billion in the year to March, down from an August forecast of ¥100
billion.
The manufacturing joint venture, in collaboration with SVG, is based in Suzhuo City, China with an initial manufacturing capacity of 40,000 wafers per month (300mm fab). This would later be scalable to 80,000wpm. The JV was planned to begin operations in the first quarter of CY 2010, but given the recent drop in the DRAM market and the shaky global economy, Elpida and SVG are looking to delay the start of operations for approximately one year or until the market recovery is forecast. Both companies said they would work together to determine the best time to bring the China facility into operation by keeping a close eye on the DRAM market conditions.