Although Japan's Elpida Memory and Micron Technology of the US are eagerly looking to work with the Taiwan government's planned state-run memory company (Taiwan Memory) in light of the substantial equity investments on offer, the amount of production capacity that will be made available to each party has recently emerged as a greater issue that needs to be resolved.

Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) is expected to be unveiled Taiwan Memory soon, as is seen as a final solution for Taiwan's struggling DRAM chipmakers. With an available budget of up to NT$70 billion (US$2 billion), the ministry's pending consolidation plans have been able to get Elpida and Micron to agree to release DRAM-related IP and technologies, in return for new capital sources.

Government sources have indicated that Taiwan Mobile will ultimately see the consolidation of Powerchip Semiconductor Corporation (PSC), ProMOS Technologies and Nanya Technology, as well as joint ventures Rexchip Electronics (Elpida-PSC) and Inotera Memories (Micron-Nanya). The goal is attainable, since none of the players want to be in danger of running out of cash and filing for bankruptcy protection.

Elpida has said it is willing to cooperate with Micron to jointly set up R&D teams in Taiwan and develop more advanced technologies such as for below 30nm, but does not want to give up any share of DRAM capacity to get Micron onboard with the project, according to industry sources. The Japan-based vendor also suggested that Micron's partners in Taiwan should complete the transition to stack technology prior to their participation in Taiwan Memory.

Elpida and Micron held 15.8% and 11.7% shares of the global DRAM market, respectively, in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to DRAMeXchange.

In other news, IC Insights has estimated that the world's DRAM market will surge in the second half of 2009, thanks to tightened capacity, rising ASPs and restored system demand. The sector reached a revenue low point of US$4.2 billion in the first quarter of 2009, down 5% sequentially, according to the research firm.

By: DocMemory
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