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Thursday, June 9, 2011

Inotera starts making server-use DRAM ahead of schedule

Inotera Memories started manufacturing DRAM chips used in servers in May 2011, ahead of the originally scheduled second half of the year, according to company president Charles Kao. Non-PC use products are expected to account for 50% of its total revenues at the end of 2011, said Kao.

Inotera finds it necessary to move towards server DRAM and other non-PC memory products to diversify, as focusing on conventional DRAM cannot sustain the growth and profitability of the company, Kao indicated. Prices for server DRAM, for instance, are 30-50% higher than those for conventional PC-use products, Kao added.

Inotera now uses 50nm process technology to make server DRAM mainly 2Gb chips, Kao said. The company is also migrating to a 40nm process for PC DRAM manufacturing, and will start 3Xnm pilot runs in the third quarter, according to Kao.

Inotera posted net losses of NT$4.04 billion (US$141 million) in the first quarter of 2011, which marked the fifth straight quarterly loss for the company.

Inotera is a DRAM-manufacturing joint venture between US-based Micron Technology and Taiwan's Nanya Technology. It now has a monthly capacity of 130,000 12-inch wafers split equally between the two investors.

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