(Taipei News) Winbond Electronics Corporation today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Infineon Technologies AG for 0.11-micron DRAM technology. It is the first technology agreement between the two companies. Under the terms of the MOU, Winbond will manufacture commodity DRAMs for Infineon using 0.11-micron DRAM technology in its 8-inch fab, where this technology is slated to ramp up in the first quarter of 2003. This collaboration places Winbond's DRAM fabrication technology on par with leading DRAM manufacturers in the industry.
"This MOU with Infineon constitutes a milestone in Winbond's strategy to team up with world class semiconductor companies to provide advanced memory products to our customers," noted Dr.C.C. Chang, president of Winbond Electronics Corporation. "The collaboration is an important step in the Company's transition of its memory product portfolio from commodity DRAM to niche DRAM and Flash memory for specialty applications. In addition, the agreement supports Winbond's previously announced strategic initiative to focus on trench technology development. This alliance and the advance technology will further strengthen our competitive position as we strive to better serve our customers by offering high quality and cost competitive products. "
As part of the agreement, Winbond will manufacture commodity DRAM for Infineon in its 8-inch fab and will also utilize a portion of its own fab capacity to manufacture its own brand of advanced specialty DRAM. The manufacturing strategy further enhances Winbond's return on investment for its 8-inch fab located in the Hsinchu Science-Based Park, Taiwan.
Based on its leading edge IC design and world class manufacturing expertise, Winbond is dedicated to offering customers high-quality and innovative IC products by providing winning solutions. The Company expects to continue its efforts in developing strategic alliances and thereby increase its competitiveness in the global market for ICs and IC related industries.
About Winbond
Winbond Electronics Corporation was founded in 1987 and is based in Hsinchu Science-Based Park, Taiwan. It has since become the largest branded IC Company in Taiwan, offering a broad range of PC and peripheral-related ICs, consumer electronics ICs, multimedia ICs, and memory ICs. Winbond is a market leader in PC I/O controllers, speech synthesizers and MPEG decoders in Taiwan and East Asia. Currently, Winbond has four wafer fabs in operation and utilizes process technology down to 0.13 micron. With more than 4,100 employees worldwide, the Company has subsidiaries in San Jose, USA; Japan; Hong Kong and Shanghai, China.
About Infineon
Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers semiconductor and customized solutions for applications in the wired and wireless communications markets, for security systems and smart cards, for the automotive and industrial sectors, as well as memory products. With a global presence, Infineon operates in the U.S. from San Jose, CA; in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore; and in Japan from Tokyo. In the fiscal year 2001 (ending September), the company achieved sales of Euro 5.67 billion with about 33,800 employees worldwide. Infineon is listed on the DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX). Further information is available at: http://www.infineon.com
Spokesperson
Wilson Wen
Vice President of Administrative Center
Tel：03-5792755
News Liaison
Mike Liu
Deputy Director
Tel：03-5792516
Email：ckliu@winbond.com