Toshiba-SanDisk JV Inaugurates New NAND Flash Chip Plant in Japan
September 07, 2007
As a follow-up to an Asia Express dated July 13, 2006, the Toshiba-SanDisk joint venture announced on September 4 the inauguration of a new NAND flash memory chip plant using 300mm wafers, Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported. This 600 billion Yen (US$5.2 billion; US$1 = 115.1 Yen) facility, located in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture rather than Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture as previously predicted, is slated to start mass production in December 2007. Monthly capacity is projected to eventually reach 80,000 units in the second half of 2008. According to the same report, the new facility will initially produce NAND flash chips based on 56nm process technology and is scheduled to migrate to 43nm technology in March 2008.