SMIC, Elpida forge foundry partnership

Semiconductor Mfg Int. Corp. (SMIC) and Elpida Memory Inc. have entered a five-year arrangement in which Elpida has appointed SMIC as a foundry partner to produce its 0.135m stacked-capacitor DRAM. Beginning 2003, SMIC will be producing DRAM chips for Elpida.

This partnership aims not only at helping Japan's semiconductor industry maintain its competitive edge, particularly in the area of IC technology and design, but also accelerate the progress of China's IC foundry industry. SMIC has in the past established cooperation partnerships with a number of major Japan semiconductor companies including Toshiba, Fujitsu, and Elpida.