Toshiba plans to cut its NAND production by approximately 30% next year as it wades through the global recession and the slowdown in consumer spending.

The production change will come in January and will impact Toshiba's Yokkaichi Operations plant in Mie Prefecture, Japan, which is made up of two 300-mm NAND fabs and two 200-mm NAND fabs.

The 300-mm wafer lines had previously been scheduled to stop for five days and the 200-mm wafer lines for four days during the December 28 through January 4 holiday period. Now, the 300-mm wafer lines will suspend operation for 13 days and the 200-mm wafer lines for four days, for a total of 17 days, during the year-end and new-year period, Toshiba said.

Toshiba made specific note of decreased demand for memory cards and MP3 players as a factor in generating excess NAND supply and said it fully considered the situation when deciding to reduce output at Yokkaichi.

The oversupply of NAND is well known hindrance to the market's revenue growth. According to iSuppli Corp estimates, unit shipments of 1-Gbyte-equivalent NAND chips will likely rise by 126% in 2008, down from 179% in 2007, but still representing tremendous unit growth. That growth has resulted in oversupply, which, in turn, has lowered ASPs (average selling prices). In 2009, unit growth will decline to 71%, iSuppli has forecasted, as the memory market segment attempts to better balance supply and demand.

By: DocMemory
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