Taiwan vendors form NAND flash R&D consortium

Previously rejected as a suitable case for government investment as a DRAM company, Taiwan Innovation Memory Co. (TIMC) has reinvented itself as a NAND flash supplier. The company is putting together a consortium of Taiwan companies and has received approval from the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), according to reports.

TIMC, ProMOS Technologies Inc., Photronics Semiconductor Mask Corp. and Elite Semiconductor Memory Technology Inc. will join together as an R&D consortium. ProMOS plans to contribute manufacturing capacity at its Central Taiwan Science Park facility, the reports said.

The Taiwanese government is prepared to supply up to 40 percent of TIMC's capital needs and the company would reveal a NAND flash memory technology by the end of October, a Taipei Times report said quoting a MOEA official.

TIMC, headed by Hsuan Ming-chih, honorary chairman of United Microelectronics Corp. had previously been charged with consolidating Taiwan's fragmented DRAM industry. Originally, three Taiwan DRAM makers—Powerchip, ProMOS and Rexchip—were supposed to combine their operations under TIMC with Elpida Memory Inc. of Japan acting as an advanced technology and business partner. However, the Taiwan legislature declined to inject NT$8 billion (about $250 million) for a plan based on DRAM.

- Peter Clarke
EE Times