SAN JOSE, Calif. -- In a possible move to gain control of Taiwan's DRAM industry, Japan's Elpida Memory Inc. has been selected as a strategic technology partner of Taiwan Memory Co. (TMC).
Details of the collaboration have yet to be finalized. As reported, the Taiwan government is bailing out the island's loss-ridden DRAM sector.
As part of the proposed plan, Taiwan will consolidate many of its DRAM makers and form a new company, dubbed Taiwan Memory Co. Taiwan's DRAM makers include Nanya, Inotera, Powerchip, Rexchip, ProMOS and Winbond.
The Taiwan government will own less than 50 percent of TMC. The entity was planning to form a partnership with either Elpida or Micron Technology Inc. John Hsuan, a former vice chairman at United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), will led the new company.
At a press event, TMC selected Elpida as its partner.
"We are very pleased to be selected as a technology partner of TMC. It seems that TMC gave high ratings to Elpida's advanced technology and our business achievements in Taiwan. Our intention now is to do our best effort to create win-win business scenarios for Elpida, TMC and Taiwanese DRAM companies," said Yukio Sakamoto, president and CEO of Elpida (Tokyo), in a statement.
Elpida is aligned with Taiwan's Powerchip Semiconductor Corp. The two companies have a joint DRAM venture in Taiwan, dubbed Rexchip.
Within TMC, Elpida may consolidate Powerchip, Rexchip and possibly ProMOS.
TMC claims that it is also talking to Micron and its Taiwan DRAM partner, Nanya Technology Corp. For now, the Micron/Nanya duo have not joined TMC and will operate as usual, said Ken Hurley, president and CEO of Nanya Technology's U.S. subsidiary.
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