Macronix International will invest a total of almost NT$30 billion (US$936 million) in its recently-acquired 12-inch wafer fab at the Hsinchu Science Park (HSP), northern Taiwan in 2010 and 2011, according to company president CY Lu.
The estimated expenditure includes NT$8.5 billion that Macronix has paid to ProMOS Technologies, the former owner of the facility. Macronix will allocate another NT$21.4 billion for the fab: NT$11 billion for new equipment, NT$4.4 billion for R&D and NT$6 billion for capacity expansion, said Lu.
Lu noted that the company's 12-inch fab is set to come on line in the first quarter of 2011, with monthly capacity reaching 10,000 wafer starts by June 2011 and more than 20,000 by the end of the year.
Macronix was quoted in previous reports as saying the new capacity will be used to produce 45nm ROM products and 75nm NOR flash memory.
In addition, Macronix plans to apply for a NT$15 billion syndicated bank loan in the second half of 2010, according to Lu. The funds will be used for capex during 2010 and 2011.
As of the end of first-half 2010, Macronix had NT$25.5 billion in cash on hand.
Lu made the remarks during the company's quarterly investors conference on July 27. Macronix reported net profits of NT$2.28 billion on revenues of NT$7.33 billion for the second quarter of 2010, with both results showing growth sequentially and on year.