Inotera Memories Inc (華亞半導體), a 50-50 joint venture of Germany's Infineon Technologies AG and Taiwan's Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), yesterday said quarterly earnings rose on increasing shipments.
Inotera, which makes computer memory chips at an advanced 300mm factory in northern Taiwan, said earnings amounted to NT$1.76 billion (US$56.2 billion), or NT$0.71 per share, on revenues of NT$4.9 billion. Net margin was about 36 percent.
Inotera declined to give a clear outlook for the second quarter.
"Prices for advanced DDRII chips will drop further, in line with the overall memory-chip market," company president Charles Kau (
DDRII chips, which allow faster processing for servers and computers, now account for 90 percent of the chipmaker's total production.
"At least we will not lose money if further price declines erode the profits of our rivals," Kau said.
Inotera currently only supplies chips to its parent companies.
Last year, the computer memory chipmaker made NT$901 million in after-tax profits, or NT$0.51 a share, in its first year of operation.
Monthly production grew to 28,000 wafers after Inotera cranked out its first wafer last year, Kau said.
The total output this year would rise five-fold or six-fold from last year after monthly production is boosted to 54,000 units by the end of this year, he said.
Inotera made 82 million wafers last year.
Kau yesterday also said Inotera plans to invest at least NT$82 billion to build a second 300mm factory to meet rising demand for the advanced chips.
DDRII is widely expected to overtake DDRI as the mainstay product in the second half of this year.
The factory will be next to the current plant in Taoyuan. The new plant is scheduled to be completed by the end of next year.
To fund the new plant, Kau said Inotera plans to file a proposal to trade its shares on the broader Taiwan Stock Exchange in mid-October at the earliest.
It listed its shares on the smaller Emerging Stock Market (
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