Later this year Toshiba and SanDisk will sign an agreement to set up a new production joint venture, and build a new fab for NAND flash memories.
In the meantime the two companies will select a site. The intention is to start building the fab next year, and start running wafers in 2010.
The idea behind the new joint venture is that half the fab’s capacity will be allocated to the joint venture, with the other half managed by Toshiba, but contributing half of its output to SanDisk on a committed foundry basis.
SanDisk has an option to convert its committed foundry capacity into the joint venture, or convert to a non-committed foundry arrangement.
"NAND flash memory is enjoying rapid growth and is expected to expand with new applications in coming years. Toshiba is committed to support such growth of NAND flash memory through continued proactive capital investments in production capacity and advanced process technology," said. Shozo Saito, CEO of Toshiba Semiconductor.
"We are very pleased with the financing structure in the new agreement which maintains our guaranteed 50% of the capacity output while reducing substantially our capital expenditure commitments for funding the new fab NAND manufacturing equipment", said Dr. Eli Harari, CEO of SanDisk.