Nanya Technology has started volume shipments of 20nm 4Gb DDR3 chips, and is scheduled to enter mass production of 20nm 8Gb DDR4 chips in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to the Taiwan-based DRAM chipmaker.

Nanya will return to the server-use DRAM market with its 8Gb DDR4 chips, said company president Pei-Ing Lee, adding that demand for server applications is expected to enjoy higher growth than that for smartphones in the future.

Nanya has in recent years transformed itself into a niche-market DRAM supplier. Acknowledging the promising growth of data centers and other cloud computing applications, Nanya will start providing its solutions for server applications in 2018, Lee indicated.

The server market is set to replace the smartphone market to become the largest consumer of DRAM memory, Lee added.

In addition, Nanya has moved a newer 20nm process technology to volume production ahead of schedule, Lee indicated. Commercial production of Nanya's 20nm 8Gb DDR4 products will kick off later in the fourth quarter, Lee said.

Nanya disclosed it has reached the crossover point for 20nm process manufacturing costs, which are now less than 30nm ones. Monthly output of Nanya's 20nm chips already exceeded 10,000 wafers at the end of the third quarter, said the company, which set a goal of reaching 38,000 wafer starts by the end of 2017.

Nanya added the company's combined production capacity will arrive at 68,000 wafer starts per month, which will include 30,000 units manufactured using 30nm process technology, by the end of 2017.

As for the development of Nanya's 1Xnm process technology, Lee said that the company is in no hurry to decide whether the node will be licensed from an international vendor or developed in-house. Lee believes 20nm process technology will still be practical until the first half of 2019.

In addition, Lee forecast that the global DRAM supply growth will be modest at 21-23% in 2018, while the demand side will increase a slightly larger 22-24%. The overall market conditions next year will remain brisk.

Nanya reported net profits of NT$18.34 billion (US$607.3 million) for the first three quarters of 2017, up 402.9% on year, with EPS reaching NT$6.67. Strong profit results boosted Nanya's net value per share to NT$39.46 as of September 30, 2017, when the company had cash on hand of about NT$24 billion.

By: DocMemory
Copyright © 2023 CST, Inc. All Rights Reserved