ProMOS Technologies Inc (茂德科技), the nation’s most unprofitable memory chipmaker, said it was in talks with Taiwan Memory Co (TMC, 台灣記憶體公司) and other “strategic partners” about jointly producing dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips.
The chipmaker plans to use its fab in Taichung to make DRAM chips, chairman Chen Min-liang (陳民良) said yesterday at the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu, where ProMOS is based.
The nation’s No. 3 PC memory chipmaker also said it planned to use its Hsinchu fab to make non-mainstream DRAM products.
TMC is the company being formed by the government to reorganize Taiwan’s semiconductor industry. John Hsuan (宣明智), appointed to oversee the formation of the company after chipmakers posted record losses, said in April the venture would work with Elpida Memory Inc of Japan and seek tie-ups with local chipmakers.
Industrial Development Bureau Director-General Woody Duh (杜紫軍) said last week the government venture could acquire local chipmakers next year after it is officially formed in September.
ProMOS will lay off 550 workers as it plans to idle a plant in Taichung, spokesman and vice president Ben Tseng (曾邦助) said on June 11.
The chipmaker had 5,800 employees as of the end of March 31, its latest stock exchange filing showed.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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