In order to increase cash on hand, Powerchip Technology has struck leaseback deals with the companies to which it previously sold 12-inch manufacturing equipment, while fellow DRAM company Rexchip Electronics is mulling plans to sell a portion of its production tools with leaseback options to a Japan-based equipment supplier, according to industry sources.
Although it is currently the only profitable DRAM chipmaker from Taiwan, Rexchip is also striving to increase its working capital prior to the opening of the company's second 12-inch fab, the sources said.
Meanwhile, Winbond Electronics has also rented out one of its immersion lithography scanners to Powerchip for producing 12-inch wafers at the 40nm-class node, the sources indicated. Winbond has retreated from PC DRAM production and transformed itself into a supplier of pseudo SRAM, other niche-market DRAM, and NOR flash memory.
With major DRAM companies such as Samsung Electronics already at the 30nm-class node, most Taiwan-based players with older and less efficient nodes are still struggling to stay financially viable. Inotera Memories, Powerchip, ProMOS Technologies and Nanya Technology all reported net losses for the most recent quarter.
Both Inotera and Nanya have said that they are shifting business focus to mobile DRAM and server-use memory products with an aim to reduce their reliance on the PC market. Powerchip and ProMOS, on the other hand, have been aggressively expanding their foundry businesses for diversification.