Phison Electronics Corp (ŒQ—ü“dŽq), a Taiwanese supplier of NAND flash memory controllers and modules, is mulling whether to seek an injection of Chinese capital to a Chinese subsidiary in a bid to pursue new business opportunities, a company executive said yesterday.

Local semiconductor companies, including MediaTek Inc (—üᢉÈ), have Chinese subsidiaries, as the government prohibits Chinese entities from having stakes in Taiwanese chip designers.

To enhance its competitiveness, Phison is looking at the possibility of offering an unspecific stake in HeFei CoreStorage Electronic Limited (‡”ì’›c) to strengthen partnerships, company chairman Pua Khein-seng (àNŒ’¬) told reporters in Taipei.

Phison has been in talks with potential partners to sell a stake in the Chinese subsidiary, Pua said.

He did not disclose how many shares Phison plans to sell, nor names of the Chinese companies involved in the talks.

Phison did not set a time frame on the planned share sale.

The company has built a research and development team at HeFei CoreStorage, as well as a sales team, Phison said. The Chinese subsidiary generated more than 100 million yuan (US$14.67 million) in revenue last year.

Phison is showcasing a new series of NAND flash memory controllers, including products that support 3D NAND flash memory chips from Toshiba Corp and Micron Technology Inc at the Computex Taipei trade show.

The new-generation 3D NAND chips are four times faster than previous 2D NAND chips and use 20 percent less power, Phison said in a statement.

Phison shares closed up 0.77 percent at NT$326 yesterday, bucking the TAIEXfs 0.61 percent fall, but moderating from a nine-year high of NT$335 during the session.

By: DocMemory
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