Powerchip has been expanding its foundry production while continuing to reduce its exposure to the PC DRAM market, according to the Taiwan-based chipmaker.

Acknowledging continued-sluggish PC sales, Powerchip has scaled back production of commodity DRAM products, company VP and spokesperson Eric Tang indicated. Oversupply in the PC-DRAM market is unlikely to improve in the short term, Tang said.

In contrast, Powerchip has enjoyed steady growth in contract-manufacturing orders, according to Tang. The firm will be striving for new orders for tablets, smartphones and other fast-growing applications, said Tang, adding that Powerchip also plans to raise wafer starts for its foundry business every month until the end of 2012.

Powerchip has announced October revenues of NT$2.52 billion (US$86 million), showing growth of 2.5% on month and 17.3% on year. Revenues for the first 10 months of 2012 amounted to NT$23.27 billion, down 30.8% from a year ago, however.

In other news, Powerchip is scheduled to delist from Taiwan's over-the-counter (OTC) stock market on December 11, due to its negative net assets, the firm revealed. Operations will remain normal after the withdrawal, it reiterated.

Powerchip reported net losses of about NT$3.6 billion for the third quarter of 2012, compared to losses of NT$3.04 billion for the second quarter. The net value of its shares came to negative NT$1.36.