Qimonda Expands Foundry, Tech Pact With Winbond

Qimonda , the world’s second-largest dynamic RAM (DRAM) maker, has expanded a technology and production pact with Taiwan’s Winbond Electronics to provide the company with 80-nanometer manufacturing technology.

The deal extends Qimonda’s strategy of sharing its R&D expenses by licensing out chip-manufacturing technology to partners such as Winbond, Nanya Technology and Semiconductor Manufacturing International of China. The deals also help Qimonda control costs. The company sources chips from these companies, enabling it to rely on them for a steady supply of DRAM without having to spend billions of dollars on new chip factories.

The German company, formerly the memory chip division of Infineon Technologies, will also continue to source chips from Winbond, it said in a statement.

The deal extends a partnership begun in 2002, when Infineon agreed to transfer its 110-nanometer technology to Winbond in return for a portion of its output.

Using the most advanced chip-manufacturing technology is vital in the DRAM industry. The 80-nanometer technology will enable Winbond to make chips that are smaller, run faster, consume less power, and run cooler than chips produced using larger, 90-nanometer or older technology.

A nanometer is a billionth of a meter, and the measurement is a guide to the size of the transistors and other parts that are etched onto the chips. Typically, the more transistors, and the closer they are together, the faster the chip can perform tasks.

-Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service (Taipei Bureau)

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