Taiwan poised to become world's top memory supplier: Powerchip President

February 28, 2007

Taiwan is set to become the world's leading supplier of developing DRAM products, as the island steps up its mass production capacity for 12-inch wafers, said Brian Shieh, President of Powerchip Semiconductor Corp, in a recent speech at a conference
in Silicon Valley in California.

The conference, entitled Taiwan+China Semiconductor Outlook 2007, was held by the US-Taiwan Business Council earlier this month. Also speaking at the conference was Wu Tian-yu, Chief Operating Officer of the Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) Group, a leading semiconductor engineering services provider.

In his speech to an audience that included many leading figures in the US semiconductor industry, Shieh noted that the memory industry in the future will be influenced by factors including PC sales, the emerging effects of Microsoft Vista on the market post-Q2, and the state of 70 nanometer mass production processes.

These developments would, moreover, be applied to flash memory applications for MP3 players, USB products and other electronic handheld devices, said Shieh, who predicts that the DRAM and flash memory market could see profits of up to USD 50 billion this year.

Shieh also made mention of his company's new cooperative project with Elpida of Japan, in which the two companies will build four factories in Taiwan over the next five years to produce 12-inch wafers. The joint venture is expected to spur continued growth of the semiconductor industry, he said.

Taiwan holds a number of advantages as a production base for semiconductors, with a highly-educated workforce, a solid back-end support base and infrastructure, as well as a strong enterprising spirit, said Shieh.

Shieh predicted that 8-inch wafer production will comprise only 23% of the market in 2007.

Recent reports indicate that this year Taiwan will supply 40% of all 12-inch DRAM production, while South Korea comprises 30%, and the US and Europe the remaining 30%, according to the Central News Agency.

(Central News Agency)

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