Nanya Technology and Inotera Memories have reported net losses for the first quarter of 2011 of NT$9.03 billion (US$311 million) and NT$4.04 billion, respectively. This marked the fifth straight quarterly loss for both DRAM companies.

Nanya generated revenues of NT$10.73 billion in the first quarter, down 9% sequentially. Operating losses for the first quarter were NT$7.66 billion, compared to losses of NT$8.68 billion in the prior quarter and losses of NT$1.23 billion in first-quarter 2010.

Nanya saw first-quarter net losses widen from losses of NT$1.63 billion in the same period of 2010, but improve compared to net losses of over NT$10 billion in the fourth quarter.

In addition, Nanya revealed plans to start 3Xnm pilot runs in mid-2011, mainly for 4Gb DDR3 products. The company indicated that its DDR4 memory will also use the node with engineering samples to be introduced in the first quarter of 2012.

Nanya added that 50nm process is currently its major production node for mobile RAM chips, and the company expects to use 42nm and 3Xnm processes to manufacture mobile RAMs over the next two years.

Nanya said that shipments of its mobile RAM products for tablet PCs kicked off in March 2011. The company has also begun shipping its 8Gb low-power DDR2 (LPDDR2) devices, which use four 2Gb chips in a quad die package (QDP), to a brand-name PC company. In addition, Nanya recently delivered products to brand-name handset companies for validation, with shipments expected to begin in the second quarter of 2011.

Nanya noted the company has expanded its mobile RAM portfolio to include LPSDR, LPDDR, LPDDR2, LPDDR3 and wide IO series products with densities ranging from 256Mb up to 4Gb.

Inotera announced net losses of NT$4.04 billion on revenues of NT$9.59 billion for the first quarter of 2011. The losses translated into a loss per share of NT$0.87.

Inotera's revenues grew 10% sequentially in the first quarter. Bit shipments increased 36% on quarter, which partially offset a 13% decline in average sales revenues per wafer during the period, the company said.

In addition, Inotera revealed that it has achieved shipment qualification of its 2Gb DDR3 DRAM in 42nm process technology, and started the volume ramp in March. The company has also commenced pilot runs of 2Gb LPDDR and LPDDR2 mobile DRAM in 50nm technology in April, a move to diversify its product portfolio.

Both Nanya and Inotera claimed that they do not anticipate any impact from potential supply shortages as a result of Japan's recent disasters. Nanya and Inotera estimated their bit shipment growth for the ongoing second quarter at 25-35% and 10-15%, respectively.

Nanya's and Inotera's planned capex budgets for 2011 of NT$12 billion and NT$17 billion, respectively, remain unchanged.

By: DocMemory
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