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Having had its 40nm 1-Gigabit DDR2 DRAM chips certified in the Intel Platform Validation program, Samsung Electronics is planning volume production of a 2Gb DDR3 device using the new 40nm process by the end of 2009. Read more >>

A year after announcing the start of ‘mass’ production of the first 3-bits-per-cell NAND flash device in the March/April 2008 timeframe using its 56nm process technology, manufacturing partners SanDisk and Toshiba have announced the development of its latest All Bit-Line (ABL) architecture and 32nm process technology using 32nm geometries. Read more >>

Private equity owned Freescale Semiconductor is tapping existing creditors to the tune of US$1 billion. Freescale was taken private in 2006 as part of a US$17 billion leveraged buyout, but has struggled to be profitable under the debt load. According to Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, the new funding round is ‘tantamount to default’ as the company is most likely to need to recapitalize in due course. Read more >>

In a new twist to the efforts to save Spansion from a fast liquidation, newly appointed President and CEO, John Kispert has arranged for its Japanese arm to enter into bankruptcy protection as part of Spansion’s restructuring efforts. At the core of Spansion Japan is its 300mm NOR flash memory fab, which is the company’s most advanced and cost competitive production facility. Read more >>

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) has responded to the Senate passage of the US economic recovery bill with full applause. The bill serves as a catalyst for the stimulation of economic growth, encouraging innovation that will create long-term benefits for the US economy. Read more >>

A significant proportion of Intel Corporation’s 2009 capital expenditure plans will be targeted at re-tooling 300mm fabs in Arizona, New Mexico and Oregon to its 32nm process technology, which is expected to ramp in the second half of the year. As the IC giant, migrates its full range of microprocessors to the latest technology node in 2010, Intel expects to spend approximately US$7 billion on the transition over the next two years. Read more >>

Qimonda AG has been forced to reduce production at its last remaining DRAM production facility to preserve cash and demonstrate to potential investors that its 46nm ‘Buried Wordline’ technology is competitive with rivals such as Samsung and Hynix. With the closure of its 300mm fab in Richmond, Virginia, the Dresden facility is Qimonda’s single remaining production facility. Read more >>

UMC followed the other major pure-play foundries in reporting a significant decline in revenue and fab utilization rates for the 4Q08 as the economic recession impacted orders from semiconductor customers. Although UMC claimed to have reduced fab utilization breakeven to 60% in Q4, losses mounted to US$717 million as utilization rates hit only 48%. UMC had previously guided utilization rates would decline to approximately 55% for the fourth quarter. This is the second sequential quarter that UMC has posted losses.

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It was hoped that the potential demise of Qimonda AG, the consolidation of a number of Taiwanese producers, and more rational behaviour from the major two producers in Korea would all see a recovery in the DRAM market in 2009. However, this may not be the case if the latest forecast from iSuppli Corp proves to be correct. Read more >>

Numonyx B.V. has said that it expects volume production of its 45nm multi-level cell (MLC) NOR flash memory to begin in 2010, using Self-Aligned-Contact (SAC) process architecture to obtain the necessary feature sizes but with improved reliability of the flash cells at a lower production costs. Intel Corp. noted last week that an SAC-based 45nm NOR flash process was designed to reduce cost per bit by 50% while delivering higher program performance. Numonyx said that the forthcoming devices increased the speed in which data is written by up to 50%, compared to its 65nm offerings. Read more >>