(Hsin Chu News) Winbond Electronics Corporation today announced the successful results of its sample production efforts for 0.13-micron technology used in manufacturing the Company's 512 Mb Double Data Rate (DDR) SDRAM ICs. The resulting test sample yields have been excellent. The Company expects to ship samples to customers in the first quarter of 2002, with volume production expected by the second quarter of 2002.
Winbond co-developed the 0.13-micron trench process in cooperation with Toshiba. When Winbond's engineering development team returned from Japan three months ago, the Company immediately began implementing its own 0.13-micron development technology in its 8-inch FAB. After some initial adjustments to the development method, based on current available facilities and production processing experience, the Company experienced very successful product yield rates. The Company's 0.13-micron production technology for DDR DRAMs is currently the leading technology in Taiwan. The Company estimates, based on current market conditions, that DDR products will become a market leader within the next year. DDR DRAMs manufactured using the Company's new 0.13-micron process will allow Winbond to lower its production costs, while offering IC solutions that support higher bus speeds. Currently, 512Mb ICs provide the highest memory capacity available in Taiwan.
Moving its DRAM technology from 0.175-micron to 0.13-micron will enable the Company to overcome a relatively large cost barrier in development processing. The number of chips produced from every wafer is expected to increase significantly, up to 80 percent.
Up until now, Winbond's DDR efforts have focused on 256Mb DRAM, which currently occupies approximately 30 percent of Winbond's total DRAM wafer output. This percentage should increase to approximately 70 percent during the first quarter of next year. The successful 0.13-micron production effort is part of Winbond's strategic product plans that also include the aggressive roll out of Flash and Pseudo SDRAM. The Company is on track for transitioning the bulk of its DRAM product efforts from commodity DRAM to specialized DRAMs.
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