Electronics Production |
Infineon Expands Foundry Agreement
German chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG and Winbond Electronics Corp., Hsinchu, Taiwan, have signed an agreement to expand their existing cooperation on the production of standard memory chips (DRAMs).
Under the terms of the additional agreement, Infineon will transfer its 0.09-µm DRAM trench technology and 300mm production know-how to Winbond. In return, Winbond will manufacture DRAMs for computing applications in this technology exclusively for Infineon. The transfer of these technologies from Infineon will enable Winbond to develop and sell respective proprietary specialty memories for which Infineon will receive license fees and royalties. Furthermore, Infineon and Winbond intend to jointly develop Specialty Memories which are targeted for mobile applications.
This new move will enable Infineon to considerably increase its capacity from Winbond through Winbond’s 200mm and 300mm production plants. In May 2002, the two companies signed an agreement whereby Winbond would manufacture DRAMs for computting applications in its 200mm plant in Hsinchu using Infineon’s 0.11-µm DRAM trench technology exclusively for Infineon. First products from the new 300mm plant, which will be built in Taichung, Taiwan, are expected for end of 2005.
Specialty memories support particularly demanding applications including Graphics RAM (128, 256Mbit) and mobile applications such as PDAs, mobile phones and SMART phones.
“The extension of our cooperation with Winbond underlines our partner commitment in Asia and it further supports the growth of our DRAM business and product portfolio,” said Thomas Seifert, CEO of Memory Products Business Group at Infineon Technologies AG. “At the same time we are further strengthening our regional presence and aiming overall at a leading market position in Asia/Pacific.”
“Our previous successful collaboration with Infineon in the 0.11-micron process technology transfer has paved the way for broadening of the partnership”, said C.C. Chang, President of Winbond Electronics Corp. “This further solidifies the foundation for future technology transfer cooperations between the two companies.”
This collaboration will further consolidate Infineon’s position as the third largest semiconductor manufacturer in the DRAM market. According to forecasts by market research firm Gartner Dataquest, the semiconductor market in Asia is set to grow from approximately US-Dollar 4.9 billion in 2003 to around US-Dollar 9.4 billion in 2008.
