Macronix International has revealed plans to double monthly production at its 12-inch plant to 20,000 wafers in the middle of 2011, six months ahead of schedule. The company noted that it has to step up the pace of production to accommodate a ramp-up in orders for mask ROM chips.
Market sources believe that Macronix's plan to move forward the ramp-up schedule is aimed at supporting its client Nintendo's introduction of the 3DS portable games console.
Macronix said that the current level of 10,000 wafers at its 12-inch facility has been mainly allocated to ROM products. The company has planned a combined NT$30 billion in 2010 and 2011 in 12-inch facility investment, it added.
Formerly owned by ProMOS Technologies, the 12-inch fab is capable of outputting 50,000 wafer starts a month. Macronix completed its takeover of the facility in November 2010, and has commenced production since early 2011.
Macronix previously said its new 12-inch capacity would also be used to produce 75nm NOR flash chips in densities ranging from 64-256Mb.
Macronix's mainstream technologies for ROM and NOR flash production were 75nm and 0.11-micron in the fourth quarter of 2010. The company expects 65nm to account for more than 70% of its total ROM sales in 2011, and is set to migrate to 75nm for NOR production.
Macronix pointed out that total capital spending for 2011 will continue to place a heavy emphasis on facility and equipment upgrades at its 12-inch fab. The company has budgeted NT$17.6 billion in capex for 2011, compared to NT$16.4 billion allocated last year. In 2005-09, Macronix's annual capex ranged between NT$1-4 billion only.