Powertech Technology Inc (力成), which provides packaging and testing services for memory chipmakers, yesterday said Elpida Memory Inc owed it NT$2 billion (US$67.8 million) in accounts receivable, a figure that was half its previous estimate of NT$4.5 billion.
In addition, Powertech said it had NT$3 billion in wafers in stock from Elpida and it was seeking to keep those wafers at the company to safeguard its interests, UBN quoted Powertech chairman Tsai Tu-king (蔡篤恭) as saying yesterday.
The Hsinchu-based Powertech would book the loss in last year’s financial report, Tsai said, but the company would not drift into losses in the next six to 12 months based on an initial evaluation.
Tsai’s remarks came after Elpida filed for bankruptcy protection at the Tokyo District Court on Monday, sending Powertech shares down 13.4 percent over the past two trading days. Elpida, the sole PC DRAM chipmaker in Japan, is one of Powertech’s customers.
Powertech said it had reached a consensus with Elpida on new payment terms to restore shipments to the Japanese memory chipmaker, Tsai said.
Separately, local PC DRAM module maker A-Data Technology Co (威剛科技) yesterday said it had prepaid US$35 million to Elpida for DRAM chips, but Elpida only shipped about US$15.64 million in chips, according to a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
As a result, Elpida owed it US$19.36 million, A-Data said.
As A-Data plans to continue buying memory chips from Elpida, the payment would be deducted from the debt over the next one to two months, the company said.
“Elpida’s filing for restructuring will not have a significant impact on the company’s financial status and business,” A-Data said in the filing. “Elpida is supplying A-Data with its DRAM chips as normal.”
A-Data said it still had enough DRAM chips in stock for the company to make DRAM modules for a month. The company has multiple DRAM chip suppliers, including those from the US and South Korea, it said.
Shares of A-Data dropped 0.46 percent to NT$43.5 yesterday, while the benchmark TAIEX slid 0.04 percent.
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