Elpida and PSC sign agreement to establish DRAM joint venture in Taiwan
Elpida Memory, Inc. and Powerchip Semiconductor Corp.(PSC) jointly announced that both parties will establish a new joint venture company to operate DRAM fabrication facilities in Central Taiwan Science Park with a total planned capacity of 240,000 12" wafers per month. At the same time, both parties have also agreed to jointly develop a part of next generation process technology. Through manufacturing and development collaborations, the alliance between Elpida and PSC will help combine the strengths of the Japanese and Taiwanese DRAM industries, where both parties will be in an excellent position to collectively strive for the number one position in the DRAM industry.
Elpida and PSC have held a Joint Venture/Development MOU Signing Ceremony, with Dr. Frank Huang Chairman of PSC and Yukio Sakamoto President and CEO of Elpida presiding over the ceremony. Both parties initially will jointly invest 40 Billion NTD to establish the new venture, where the new venture will then obtain PSC's current 12" fabrication facility in Taichung Houli Science Park, which is currently under construction. In addition to PSC investing capital PSC will also allocate human resources for a part of Elpida's next generation DRAM process technology development, thus allowing both parties to enjoy the benefits of joint development.
Dr. Huang mentioned that, despite Singapore, China, and Japan's active pursuit as well as attractive packages for such a large scale investment, Elpida still decided on Taiwan for its JV location, reflecting the importance of the strong successful relationship between Elpida and PSC. Through this type of cooperation, PSC will not only be able to rapidly expand its DRAM manufacturing scale, but at the same time will be ready to secure next generation process technology. Being able to join Elpida's development activities and share the technology, large capacity, as well excellent operation efficiencies will further cement PSC's position as a world class memory solution company.
