TMC (Taiwan Memory Company), a newly-created
company supported by Taiwan's government to help consolidate the local DRAM
(Dynamic Random Access Memory) industry, has been approved by Taiwan's National
Science Council to invest NT$11 billion (US$339.5 million; US$1=NT$32.4) in
DRAM operations and establish headquarters in the Hsinchu Science Park, China
Times of Taiwan reported on September 22. Taiwanese companies Siliconware
Precision Industries and King Yuan Electronics are numbered among TMC's major
investors at present. Initially it is expected that TMC will leverage its existing
partnership with Japan's Elpida Memory to conduct joint R&D of
next-generation products and technology.
Shortly ahead of the approval for business investment
and headquarters establishment, TMC formed an alliance with Taiwanese memory
chip maker ProMOS Technologies, according to a September 18 report by Economic
Daily News. Although collaboration between the two companies will start on an
R&D basis, it is expected that the partnership will extend to DRAM
manufacturing in the near future.