Nanya Technology and Inotera Memories saw their second straight quarterly losses in the second quarter of 2010, according to financial data released by the companies. However, the two DRAM makers remain optimistic about their output growth in the third quarter, and are gearing up to ramp chip production using 42nm.
Nanya reported revenues of NT$15.72 billion (US$489 million) for the second quarter, up 11% on quarter and 94% on year. Operating losses improved to NT$577 million in the quarter from larger operating losses in the first quarter and a year ago. It generated net losses of NT$1.02 billion in the second quarter, also showing improvement compared to net losses of NT$1.63 billion in the prior quarter and losses of NT$6.54 billion in second-quarter 2009.
Nanya said its first lot of wafers using copper-based 42nm DRAM process technology, which the company co-developed with Micron Technology, was successfully demonstrated on July 5. Nanya expects to move the node to volume production in the fourth quarter of 2010.
"The conversion to 50nm will achieve 50% cost reduction compared to the 70nm trench technology. Furthermore, the 42nm stack technology will further reduce another 30% die cost compared with 50nm," Nanya said.
Nanya also indicated that total production capacity at its 12-inch fab has exceeded 42,000 wafer starts a month since July. The shift to 50nm will allow it to significantly improve production costs, the company said, adding that its bit shipments for 2010 are expected to grow 35%.
Inotera announced revenues of NT$11.29 billion for the second quarter of 2010, down 2% on quarter. A 14% increase in average revenues per wafer offset a 14% decrease in wafer shipments, resulting in almost flat growth in revenues for the second quarter, the company said.
Inotera noted that the shipment drop was caused by its process transition from trench to stack technology.
Inotera saw operating losses shrink slightly on quarter to NT$1.14 billion in the second quarter. However, the company registered net losses of NT$1.81 billion in the quarter, compared to losses of NT$1.56 billion in the first quarter.
Inotera expects its bit shipments to rise by a mid-teen percentage sequentially in the third quarter, buoyed by significant output of 2G DDR3 manufactured using 50nm. Bit shipment growth for 2010 is projected to be around 50%, as the company is confident that monthly output will be scaled up to a full level of 130,000 wafer starts in 50nm stack by the end of 2010, as scheduled.
Inotera also revealed plans to kick off 42nm pilot runs in September, with volume production slated for the middle of 2011.
In addition, Nanya and Inotera have upwardly adjusted their capex targets for 2010, due to their purchases of new equipment used for 42nm chip production. Nanya now budgets NT$30 billion in capex for the year compared to NT$22 billion it previously planned. Inotera said its 2010 capex is estimated at NT$58 billion, a revision from NT$52 billion that was earlier predicted.