Following reports that ProMOS Technologies plans to cut as many as 1,300 employees at its 12-inch wafer plant in Taichung, central Taiwan, fellow DRAM companies Nanya Technology and Rexchip reportedly are looking to make certain adjustments to their workforce.

Nanya is also mulling eliminating jobs to respond to the current industry downturn, according to industry sources. Meanwhile, Rexchip reportedly has been encouraging employees to apply for unpaid leave.

Contract prices for DRAM memory continued their downward trend in September 2012. Prices for the second half of September fell another 5% due mainly to weaker-than-expected seasonal demand for PCs and sluggish trading on the spot market. With the DRAM industry moving to become more consolidated, many second-tier players will need to transform their businesses or take other measures in order to survive.

Powerchip Technology has put more emphasis on its foundry business, while Nanya and Rexchip both look to non-PC DRAM products for company growth, previous reports quoted the companies as saying. In addition, though ProMOS has not officially disclosed where it would head to, industry observers have speculated that the company will transform itself into a fabless IC firm.