Japan’s Elpida Memory and China’s Suzhou Venture Group have agreed to establish a joint venture company by the end of 2008 to produce DRAM chips in Suzhou City of Jiangsu Province, China.
The companies will build a 300mm wafer fabrication facility (fab) in Suzhou Industrial Park to meet growing DRAM demand in the Chinese market.
The joint venture, on a site area of 320,000 square meters, is expected to start operations in the first quarter of 2010.
Initial production plans call for 40,000 wafers per month, rising to 80,000.
Elpida’s 50nm DRAM process technology will be used at the beginning and migration to 40nm — faster, less space consuming and eventually less expensive — will take place as soon as the process is ready. Elpida will purchase 100% of the products manufactured at the fab.
Suzhou Industrial Park Administrative Committee will be responsible for fab construction and infrastructure installation. (The illustration is NOT of the industrial park, it is of old Suzhou but it shows the charms of the place.)
Source: Market Watch