
With DRAM prices having slid as low as some manufacturer's costs, less-competitive firms are exploring various options to preserve cash and improve their financial structures. In the meantime, the growing supply-demand imbalance in the PC DRAM market has discouraged packaging and testing firms from paying attention to the segment, with some looking to completely phase out their DRAM backend production.
Last update: Thursday 5 April 2012 [10 news items]
Commentary: Diversifying a must for DRAM firms
Apr 5, 14:31
Elpida Memory's bankruptcy filing reflects the fact that companies must diversify to cope with trends in the evolution of customer behavior and usage. The DRAM memory industry currently...

DRAM contract prices fall by nearly 8% in second half of November
Nov 29, 01:00
DRAM contract prices for the second half of November, due to sluggish demand from PC OEM makers, dropped by nearly 8% sequentially, according to industry sources in Taiwan.
ProMOS seeking to sell fab to Globalfoundries, report says
Newswatch - Nov 28, 16:06
Taiwan's ProMOS Technologies, which has been looking for funding and strategic partners, reportedly will negotiate with Globalfoundries for the sale of its 12-inch wafer plant, according...
Kingston reportedly to help Elpida, Toshiba digest inventory
Nov 28, 12:02
Kingston Technology reportedly will give a hand to its upstream chip providers Elpida Memory and Toshiba, both of which are struggling with excessive inventory. The dedicated memory...

Walton to buy stake in Elpida subsidiary
Nov 28, 10:34
Elpida Memory has announced that Taiwan-based Walton Advanced Engineering, which provides packaging and testing services mainly for DRAM products, has agreed to make a JPY3.75 billion...
Nov 24, 01:30
DRAM chipmakers Powerchip Technology and ProMOS Technologies are reportedly considering selling fabs in order to preserve cash and strengthen their financial structures. Bidders for...
Nanya fundraiser backed by parent company
Stockwatch - Nov 18, 01:10
Nanya Technology has announced that four affiliates of parent company Formosa Plastic Group will subscribe to its new shares through a private placement, according to a company filing...
Powerchip considering plant sale, says paper
Newswatch - Nov 16, 17:00
Cash-strapped Powerchip Technology reportedly is exploring various options, including selling one of its 12-inch plants, in order to continue gaining support from its creditor banks,...
PTI to reduce reliance on PC DRAM
Oct 28, 01:20
Packaging and testing house Powertech Technology (PTI) plans to lower the proportion of standard DRAM products in company revenues to less than 70% in the first quarter of 2012, and...

ChipMOS mulls phasing out DRAM backend business
Jul 15, 01:10
Packaging and testing house ChipMOS Technologies plans to gradually phase out its DRAM packaging and testing business, and concentrate on backend services for LCD driver ICs and flash...
- AUO aims at 20% market share for eTP touch panels for notebooks in 2013
- Digitimes Research: US new solar installations may only reach 3.5GW in 2013
- Solar cell prices may increase to US$0.43/W in Taiwan
- Sony Mobile to extend cooperation with ODM firms, says marketing executive
- Senao expanding retail chain in eastern China
- UDE likely to obtain orders from 2 game console vendors
- Lenovo 1Q13 net profit hikes 90% on year
- Phison warns several backend firms of possible patent infringement
- Facebook sets up OCP Taiwan
- Computex 2013: Memory module firms to showcase new SSDs
- Asia to be largest LTE market, says Nokia Siemens Networks greater China head
- ABB to produce PV inverters in South Africa
- TPV Technology suffers 1Q13 net loss of over US$10 million
- Digitimes Research: Seoul Semiconductor may see 2013 revenues up 40.3% on year
- Taiwan April manufacturing production index down, says MOEA
- Polarizer makers under price-cut pressure from clients
- AUO to supply panels for use in 2nd-gen Nexus 7, say sources
- US fab-tool book-to-bill stays above parity, says SEMI
- Intel, MediaTek and Elan taking up 60% of global touchscreen controller market
- HannStar to reach 95% utilization in 2Q13
- Windows 8 expected to take up 5-8% of global tablet shipments in 2013, say Taiwan makers
- Digitimes Research: Global LED tube light shipments to reach 220 million units in 2013
- Nvidia introduces GeForce GTX 780 GPU for gaming
- Quartz component maker TXC expects sales to rise through 4Q13
- Global LCD monitor OEM shipments down 14% on year in 1Q13, says TPV
- Releases
- White papers
- Bulletin
- Imagination says third party IP becoming a key driving force for silicon vendors
- Enriching multiple MEMS applications for mobile devices
- Dialog Semiconductor expands into ultrabooks and all-in-one PCs with a new generation of multi-touch display sensor ICs
- Altera Cyclone V GT FPGA is industry first low-power FPGA to achieve compliance for PCIe Gen2 at 5 Gbps
- Digi-Key adds Califia Lighting to line card of more than 650 global suppliers
- Embracing the New Generation Intel Atom Family with DDR3 Memory Support
- Got The Message? Ensuring efficient and reliable delivery of content across a mission critical digital signage network
- Emb' Store On-Demand Software Service for Embedded Computing
- Efficient Network Management for Digital Signage
- Design Benefits of the MI/O Extension Solution
- ATO Solution Co., Ltd. to launch 1Gb SLC NAND Flash after 256Mb/512Mb mass production for the first time in Fab-less industry
- Chilisin's miniature power inductor in 0603/0805 sizes
- Chilisin introduces Thin-film chip inductor 0201 size
- Chilisin at 2012 electronics Munich A5/159 & 260
- Chilisin sunken-type molded power inductor for MXM Graphic application
24-May-2013 markets closed
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- Infineon ships security chips to Taiwan electronic passport program (May 23) - Company release
- Toshiba shrinks 64Gbit flash chips, but still lags Samsung (May 21) - PC World
- RFMD announces flexible gallium arsenide sourcing strategy (March 19) - Company release
- Samsung takes top spot in 28-32 nm chip foundry business: data (May 20) - Yonhap News
- Did Allwinner outsell Intel, Qualcomm? (May 8) - EE Times
- Imec and Renesas collaborate on ultra-low power short range radios (May 16) - Company release
- AMD announces memory modules designed for gaming (May 8) - x-bit Labs
- Fabless suppliers play increasing role in IC market (May 1) - IC Insights
- Coto Technology claims industry's smallest MEMS reed switch
- Silicon Labs introduces single-chip digital radio receivers for CE devices
- Memory makers see better profits as chip pricing improves
- Globalfoundries quietly becoming a threat to competitors
- Digitimes Research: Mobile devices to drive 2013 DRAM market

Samsung reportedly to outsource more chips
Samsung Electronics reportedly is looking to expand the purchase of memory products, including mobile DRAM chips and eMMC NAND devices, from outside.

Micron reaches deal to acquire Elpida
Micron Technology and Elpida Memory's trustees have reached an agreement for Micron to acquire Elpida. Micron also announced a separate agreement with...

Taiwan DRAM firms mull fab sales
Taiwan-based DRAM chipmakers including Powerchip Technology and ProMOS Technologies are considering selling fabs in order to preserve cash and strengthen...

Specializing in the manufacture of memory chips and LCD panels, Samsung's component operations are undergoing a focus shift to advanced process design...

Opportunity lies for MEMS energy harvesting: Q&A with Holst Centre general manager Bert Gyselinckx
Digitimes recently interviewed Bert Gyselinckx, general manager of the Holst Centre in Eindhoven, to...

MEMS-enabled energy harvesting: Q&A with MIG executive director Karen Lightman
Digitimes recently spoke with Karen Lightman, the executive director of MEMS Industry Group (MIG),...

Complete mobile platform solutions: Q&A with Broadcom executive VP Robert Rango
In a relentless competition against rivals including Qualcomm, Nvidia and Media in the smartphone chipset...

Focused on embedded flash: Q&A with Spansion EVP Glenda Dorchak
Spansion recently announced a joint development with United Microelectronics (UMC) to integrate its...
- Taiwan DRAM module industry overview - Jun 2011
The year 2010 represented a peak in recent years for the DRAM module industry. Optimism surfaced in the second half of 2009 thanks to a return of demand on the...
- Taiwan DRAM-module industry overview - May 2010
Back to 2006 when total revenues for the third-party module market reached US$12.2 billion, Taiwan had over 15 vendors shipping DRAM modules under their own brand...
- Taiwan semiconductor equipment industry overview - Aug 2008
Worries about a global economic downturn have taken a toll on a number of industries, with the semiconductor industry being no exception. Players in the semiconductor...
- Foundry overview - Sep 2006
Taiwan's semiconductor industry has begun to out-run its global peers, once more, in 2006. This followed a trough in 2004, caused by over-inventory, plus volatility...
- Trends and shipment forecast for 2H 2012 tablet market
Digitimes Research remains conservative about the prospects for the period, with half-year shipments projected to reach 49.18 million units and whole-year shipments being revised downward to 88.69 million units.
- Trends in the China video market
In addition to strong potential video content demand in China, the market has developed rapidly due to government intervention and delays in establishing copyright protections.
- 4Q12 trends in the Greater China touch panel industry
In the second half of 2012, the market focus is on the iPhone 5, which uses in-cell touch screen technology. Due to the integration of display panels and touch panel functions, the high technological threshold will mean Taiwan touch panel makers are unable to enter the iPhone supply chain.
















