Aug 23, 2000

With 0.18-micron based and below technologies, Taiwan's four largest DRAM manufacturers--Winbond Electronics Corp., ProMos Technologies Inc., Powerchip Semiconductor Corp., and Nan Ya Technology Corp.--are expected to churn out a total of 1.1 billion 64Mb DRAM products in 2001, representing 22.4% of the world's production value and making Taiwan the second largest DRAM nation on the globe, industry sources said Wednesday.

Several international IC manufacturers in Japan and the U.S. have already withdrawn from the market and increased their OEM orders to foreign counterparts in Asia over the past few months. This will offer a high IC production value for Taiwanese manufacturers in the line, industry sources said.

By using the 0.18 micron-based technology, Winbond, ProMos, Powerchip, and Nan Ya reached only 57%, 48%, 71%, and 16%, respectively, of their maximum production capacities in the first two quarters. These four manufacturers are expected to reach their maximum production capacities in 2001.

According to latest report from the U.S.-based Dataquest, the world's 64Mb DRAM production volume will total five billion units in 2001, up 48% from 2000. The overall DRAM production volume from IBM of the U.S., Samsung and Hyundai of South Korea, and NEC and Toshiba of Japan will decline by one to two percentage points in 2001.

ProMos said the firm will enter 0.17 micron-based technology production in the fourth quarter. The firm expects that 80% of its output will concentrate on 128Mb DRAM products, which will enjoy higher profit margins. In 2001, ProMos estimates that the production volume of its 64Mb DRAM products will amount to 350 million units. This will make the firm the largest manufacturer in the line in Taiwan.

Meanwhile, Powerchip claimed that about 70% from its 900 million DRAM products will come from 0.18% micron-based technology in 2000. The firm predicts its 64Mb DRAM production volume will reach 200 million units in 2001.