Toshiba to Invest 500 Bil. Yen on New Flash Memory Plant in Mie

By Kyodo News International, Tokyo

Mar. 6–TOKYO — Toshiba Corp. will spend about 500 billion yen to build a plant in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture to boost production of flash memory chips, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported Monday.

The company, currently the world No. 2 flash memory producer, aims to triple its output capacity and catch up with global leader Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea, the business daily said.

Toshiba will begin building a fourth facility at its flash memory plant in Yokkaichi by the end of the year, with production likely to start as early as next year.

To raise productivity, the facility will produce flash memories by using large-diameter wafers, with a monthly processing capacity of 100,000 300-millimeter wafers at full production, it added.

Toshiba is also adding production capacity at the No. 3 flash-memory facility in Yokkaichi, its main semiconductor production base.

Together with the No. 4 facility, Toshiba will be able process 250,000 300-millimeter wafers per month when production goes full steam at No. 4 facility in fiscal 2008, three times the company’s current capacity, the newspaper said.

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