2000/03/06
AUSTIN, TEXAS - A year after licensing technology from IBM Microelectronics, Taiwan-based Nanya Technology Corp. this month will move into volume production of PC133 DRAMs.
At a time when the top three or four volume producers increasingly dominate commodity DRAM production, Nanya insists it can stay cost-competitive even though monthly production so far is relatively modest.
Nanya's importance in the DRAM industry, which demands staying power, stems in part from the resources behind it. It is affiliated with the Formosa Plastics Group, which has plowed billions into electronics, controlling Via, FIC and a large pc-board maker, among others.
Founded six years ago, Nanya early on signed a technology sourcing agreement with Oki Electric Corp. (Tokyo). IBM Microelectronics, with sights set on converting its own fabs from memory to logic, agreed to provide its 64- and 256-Mbit DRAM designs, as well as its 0.22- and 0.175-micron process technology, for an undisclosed sum.
Based in Taoyuan, Taiwan, Nanya is now shipping 64-Mbit DRAMs that meet the PC133 specification. Ken Hurley, president of Nanya's U.S. operations, said Nanya expects to begin 64-, 128- and 256-Mbit DRAM production this year and also will ramp its second fab in late 2000.
20,000 wafers
Its first fab, in Taoyuan near the Taipei airport, makes 64-Mbit DRAMs in IBM's 0.2-micron process. That fab will continue to dedicate about 10,000 wafers per month to wide-configured 16-Mbit DRAMs, while turning the remaining 20,000 wafers per month into PC100 and PC133 DRAMs.
Nanya spent about $700 million last year, and expects to spend another $625 million this year, to build its second fab in Linkao, also near Taipei. That fab, now in pilot production, will bring up 128-Mbit DRAMs in the second half, using 0.17-micron technology. By late 2000, Nanya expects to bring 256-Mbit DRAM production at Linkao, with much less than half of that output going to IBM for its internal needs.
The foundation has been laid for another fab at Linkao, but the company still must decide whether to use that space for a 300-mm fab or stick with 200-mm wafers. "Our belief is that 300-mm production should be ready by 2003, but that could change and be moved forward. We are having a very lively discussion about that topic right now," Hurley said.
Nanya's goal is to become the eighth-ranked maker of DRAMs this year, joining the established memory vendors. With 64-Mbit DRAM prices now in the $4.50 range, Hurley said, Nanya's strategy is to use the IBM-licensed process technology and designs to keep its costs low. "The DRAM industry is a cost-driven industry, and we view technology as our cost driver," Hurley said. By 2003, Nanya plans to process some 750,000 eight-inch-equivalent wafers.
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