14 DAY TRIAL // One of the well-known semiconductor chips manufacturers in Taiwan, ProMOS Technologies has had a long experience with memory modules and has sold memory chips to more than a dozen manufacturers. Now it has gone through a rough spot in the second quarter of 2007, but still has announced that it will continue its five year expansion plan which includes building six 12-inch fabs.
According to ML Chen, the chairman of ProMOS, DRAM prices are weakening this quarter, but should come back to normal during May. He also believes that Windows Vista's impact will have a greater effect on memory sales, and this impact will be visible later on this year, possibly towards the second half of the year. As for the company, increasing production scale on the 70nm process node should "promise a better outlook."
After beginning volume production on the 70nm manufacturing process, it is expected that wafer production should reach 15.000 wafer in April, up from 7.500-8.000 in March, according to the company vice president of sales and marketing group Ben Tseng. In the second 12-inch fab, Fab 3, ProMOS's production should reach 60.000 wafers by the end of the year, as for Fab 4, which is still under construction, it will start production in the third quarter with an initial capacity of 10.000 wafers.
The combined capacity of both Fab 3 and Fab 4 and of the upcoming fabs that are under construction is set to reach 140.000 wafers per month. The company is keeping a low profile regarding expansion into the NAND flash industry; company executives have noted that their implication in the NAND market will take place after they achieve a 10% market share out of the DRAM market, and as a time line, they hope something in the likes of 2008.