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Infineon hot and cold with ProMos
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Thursday, February 27, 2003
Just at the point when Infineon Technologies AG and ProMos Technologies seemed on the verge of finalizing a messy divorce, the estranged partners have suddenly changed course, meeting to take another stab at reconciliation.
In a surprise move, Infineon Chairman Ulrich Schumacher met ProMos Chairman Hu Hung-chiu in Taipei today, exchanging views on "the future relationship between Infineon and ProMos," according to a statement from ProMos. "The atmosphere was pleasant," the statement added.
"Infineon has expressed their intentions to do something about the relationship," said Albert Lin, a board member of ProMos, Hsinchu, Taiwan, a joint venture between Infineon and DRAM vendor Mosel Vitelic Inc., also of Hsinchu. "Both sides are inclined to work out problems in a peaceful and rational way."
Officials from Infineon could not be reached for comment.
The acrimonious dispute between the two partners escalated earlier this month, when Munich-based Infineon announced that it would aggressively sell off the entire remainder of its 30% stake in ProMos.
In the preceding months, Infineon had said that it was terminating its DRAM procurement agreement and revoking its technology license arrangement with ProMos, although a Taiwan court enjoined Infineon from carrying out the latter action.
Infineon has claimed that its conflict with ProMos is based on contractual breaches such as Mosel's use of its ProMos stock as collateral for loans, while Mosel has maintained that the dispute is the result of the unwillingness of ProMos to increase Infineon's alloted share of the venture's capacity.
Rick Hsu, a senior analyst at Nomura Securities Co., Taipei, said the most likely outcome he expected would be a return to the arrangement that existed before the dispute developed, in which ProMos would allow Infineon to use 48% of its capacity, and would also give Infineon discounts on the DRAMs that it buys from the venture. The stake that the German chipmaker would hold in ProMos and the technologies it would transfer might also be restored to the original arrangement, Hsu said.
No timetable has been set for reaching an agreement or working out any details, Lin said.
The talks were arranged by a prominent Taiwanese trade group, the statement said.
Schumacher also had a separate meeting with Taiwan government officials, seeking support for Infineon's plans to continue investing in Taiwan.
In addition to ProMos, Infineon has formed other alliances in Taiwan with Winbond Electronics Corp. and Nanya Technology Corp., seeking to cut costs and increase available capacity. Infineon is using Winbond's foundry services. The German company and Nanya have broke ground on a 300mm wafer fab on the island.
By: DocMemory
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