Powerchip Technology has unveiled plans to slash its total PC DRAM output by 50%, while reporting huge declines in revenues for August 2011.
Powerchip said it will shift a large portion of capacity to production of non-DRAM products on an OEM basis such as LCD driver ICs, CMOS sensors and power management chips. Monthly capacity for the non-DRAM segment is set to rise above 50,000 12-inch wafers in the fourth quarter of 2011, while that for DRAM products will scale down to about 40,000 units from the previous 80,000, according to the company.
Powerchip's existing 12-inch fabs are capable of outputting about 120,000 wafers a month. The company previously revealed it would reduce the ratio of PC DRAM chips to its total capacity to less than 50% by the end of 2011, and place a heavy emphasis on its foundry business.
ILI Technology (Ilitek), OmniVision and Renesas Electronics reportedly are among the companies that have placed contract orders with Powerchip.
In addition, Powerchip's revenues declined almost 50% sequentially to NT$2.06 billion (US$70.6 million) in August 2011. The company attributed the significant drop to its earlier production cutbacks and inventories of unsold DRAM. On an annual basis, Powerchip suffered a larger 76.8% decline compared to August 2010.