Mitsubishi Electric Corp has announced plans to increase its annual semiconductor production value to 650bn yen ($5.6bn) within three years, from 480bn yen ($4.1bn) in the year ended March 1999, mainly by expanding output of system chips. It also hopes to get its loss-making chip business back into the black again, perhaps as early as the end of this year, according to vice president in charge of semiconductors, Koichi Nagasawa.
He said the international market is finally recording double-digit growth and as a result Mitsubishi’s profitability is picking up fast. We will likely return to the black on a monthly basis either in December, January or February, he said and forecast a 12.2% growth in the world semiconductor market in the year to next March and 16.1% growth the following year.
By mostly expanding the output of system LSI chips (large-scale integrated circuits) and flash memory chips, Mitsubishi plans a 6.3% increase in its group microchip production in the current business year and is targeting an 11.8% increase the following year, he said.
During the last financial year it made 60bn yen ($513m) worth of system chips for digital consumer electronics and communication equipment and it plans to boost that to 137bn yen ($1.12bn) within the three-year time frame. Emphasis will be placed on system chips containing 32-bit processors and large-capacity memories. We will keep the increase of DRAM output at home to a minimum and use Taiwanese partners for this while we raise profit-generating flash memory chip production, Nagasawa said.
Mitsubishi will also begin supplying flash memories from its German plant to ST Microelectronics NV this summer. The companies have been working together on flash memory development.
