Today, a new DRAM company has been founded. Called MeiYa Technology, it is a joint venture between Micron of the US and Nanya of Taiwan and represents the end of the long-standing technology exchange deal with Qimonda.
The Qimonda technology exchange deal will continue until 50nm technology is transferred, and then Nanya will get subsequent generations of process technology from Micron. Qimonda and Nanya have a Taiwan DRAM manufacturing joint venture called Inotera Memories.
MeiYa will kick off with an old Nanya 200mm fab which will be upgraded to 300mm for a manufacturing start in 2009.
Nanya and Micron each will own 50 per cent of MeiYa and each will contribute $550m in cash by the end of 2009.
"This partnership brings greater scale and efficiency to the DRAM manufacturing operations of both parent companies, and Micron is pleased to officially enter into this joint venture with Nanya," said Mark Durcan, Micron's president and COO.
"We are sure that MeiYa will demonstrate the synergistic combinations of Nanya and Micron's strength in the DRAM industry," said Dr. Jih Lien, Nanya's president. "Nanya has a very high expectation for this new entity."