Elpida and SMIC Sign Foundry Service Agreement for DRAM Production
TOKYO, December 25, 2003 - Elpida Memory, Inc (Elpida), Japan's leading global supplier of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), today announced that Elpida and SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation) have signed a five-year foundry service agreement to produce Elpida's advanced 0.10 micron products at SMIC's advanced 300 mm fabrication facility in China. Production is scheduled to commence in Q4 2004, and the production quantity will be finalized shortly.
The two companies had previously collaborated in foundry arrangements at the end of 2002 regarding production of Elpida's 0.13 micron-based DRAMs.
"Elpida moves one step closer to achieving our target production ratio of 50:50 between our own fabrication plants in Hiroshima and external foundries," said Yukio Sakamoto, president of Elpida Memory, Inc. "Elpida's advanced process technology and SMIC's cost efficient and high quality production capacity is a winning combination that steers us toward becoming the number 3 DRAM supplier in the world."
This collaboration with SMIC will increase Elpida's production capacity as well as provides the benefits of more flexible sales logistics, increased local-content and reduced tariffs on memory chips for the growing Chinese market.
About Elpida Memory, Inc.
Elpida Memory, Inc. is a manufacturer of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) with headquarters based in Tokyo, Japan, and sales and marketing operations located in Japan, North America, Europe and Asia. Elpida offers a broad range of leading-edge DRAM products. Elpida is a joint venture company formed by NEC and Hitachi on December 20, 1999 and has been in operation since April 2000.
About SMIC
As one of the most advanced foundries in China, SMIC provides integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing at 0.35-micron to 0.18-micron and finer line technologies. Established in April 2000, SMIC, a Cayman Islands company, operates three 8-inch fabs engaged in volume production in Shanghai and is constructing a 12-inch facility in Beijing. It is also in the process of acquiring an 8-inch fab in TianjinSMIC provides customers with a full range of services, including design services, mask manufacturing and testing. For more information, please visit www.smics.com.
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Information in this news release is current as of the timing of the release, but may be revised later without notice.