Local computer memory chipmaker Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子) said yesterday that it was seeking countermeasures to cope with possible loss of technological support and orders from partner Qimonda AG because of the company’s dire financial situation.
“We will prepare contingency measures,” Mike Liu (劉重光), a deputy director of Winbond’s public relations department, said by phone.
Qimonda is facing mounting financial pressure after its parent company, Infineon Technologies AG, turned down a 150 million euro (US$207 million) loan offered by the German state of Saxony to rescue Qimonda. Infineon, which spinned off its memory chipmaking unit into Qimonda in 2006, said the conditions set by the German state were unacceptable, a company statement posted on its Web site said.
As Winbond relies solely on technological support from Qimonda to make computer memory chips, also known as dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, it could risk losing its ability to update technologies if Qimonda failed to survive the recent slump.
Winbond, however, said it was in no hurry to seek new technological partners at the moment as the company has already obtained advanced 65-nanometer technology from Qimonda, Liu said.
The remarks contradicted recent reports by local media saying that Winbond chairman Arthur Chiao (焦佑均) had approached US memory chipmaker Micron Technology Inc and Japanese memory chipmaker Elpida Memory Inc to transfer next-generation technology for making memory chips. Liu declined to comment on the report.
Early this year, the country’s second-largest DRAM supplier, Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), shifted from Qimonda to Micron for technological support, while Elpida is the major partner of Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體), the nation’s top DRAM maker.
“The pressing problem will be [dealing with] possible decreasing orders from Qimonda,” Liu said.
Currently, Winbond supplies 15,000 to 16,000 12-inch wafers to Qimonda a month, Liu said.
Winbond generates revenue primarily from DRAM business, which accounts for about 60 percent of its total revenue. It also makes special DRAMs used in DVD players and other consumer electronics and flash memory chips.
The company’s sales plunged 57 percent last month to NT$996 million from NT$2.34 billion as demand sagged amid the economic crisis and oversupply. To ease supply glut, Winbond joined local competitors in cutting output by 20 percent at an advanced plant in central Taiwan.
Despite the seemingly negative news, shares of Winbond jumped 5.52 percent to NT$3.06 yesterday, as investors shrugged off the news and snapped up shares, anticipating a proposed government bailout plan that may help local DRAM companies survive the downturn.
Other DRAM shares also rose yesterday, with Powerchip surging 6.76 percent to NT$3.95, Nanya jumping 6.96 percent to NT$5.99 and ProMOS Technologies Inc (茂德科技) climbing 6.63 percent to NT$1.93.
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