Wednesday, November 20, 2002
Hitachi Ltd. and NEC Corp. will each spend about $182 million to begin volume production of DRAMs at a 300-mm wafer fabrication facility in Hiroshima, Japan operated by Elpida Memory Inc., their jointly-owned venture. Elpida is now testing the completed 300-mm line and will shift to volume production early next year at a monthly capacity of 3,000 wafers.
Hitachi and NEC have already appropriated $364 million for the 300-mm fab for the current fiscal year, said a Hitachi spokesman. A total of $215 million has already been transferred and the balance will be transferred by the end of the fiscal year, which ends in March 2003.
The parents' investment will enable the Hiroshima fab to launch regular operations, but will not lift their burden. Elpida anticipates a loss of about $215 million for the current fiscal year.
Yukio Sakamoto, who became president of Elpida on Nov. 1, intends to increase the capacity of the Hiroshima fab to 10,000 wafers per month as soon as possible. Sakamoto said he intends to raise $400 million to $600 million for the capacity expansion, mostly from outside investors, by the first half of next year.
By: DocMemory
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