Nanya Technology slipped back into the red in the first quarter of 2010, after reporting its first profit in 11 quarters in fourth-quarter 2009. The DRAM maker had previously hinted that its ongoing technology transition might harm its profitability in the first quarter.
Nanya has reported unaudited net loss of NT$1.63 billion (US$51.56 million) for the first quarter, compared to profit of NT$199 million for the fourth quarter of 2009. Revenues for the first quarter slid 15% sequentially to NT$14.12 billion.
On an annual basis, Nanya's first-quarter revenues jumped over 100%. The first-quarter net loss also showed significant improvement from loss of NT$10.51 billion posted in the first quarter of 2009.
Nanya revealed it now expects to ramp up monthly wafer starts at its 12-inch fab to 50,000 units by the third quarter of 2010, up from 30,000 at present. The production ramp will be mainly buoyed by its migration to more advanced process geometries.
Nanya said it moved 50nm stack to mass production in the fourth quarter of 2009. The node will account for half of its total 12-inch capacity in the second quarter of this year, with the remainder to be 68nm, according to the company. It will also start sampling 2Gb DDR3 chips using copper-based 42nm stack process in the third quarter, with volume production slated for the fourth quarter, the company added.
Nanya noted DDR3 will account for more than 90% of the combined production at Nanya and Inotera Memories by the end of 2010, and 50nm 2Gb DDR3 will contribute about 80% to the two companies' total capacity.
Nanya's capex for 2010 is estimated at NT$22 billion, according to the company, adding that the spending will be used to carry out its technology upgrade and capacity expansion projects.