Some of the world’s biggest chipmakers are joining forces to manufacture 300mm silicon wafers for 256 megabit dynamic RAM chips, according to a report in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun. The Japanese business paper reports that Toshiba Corp and IBM Corp are allying to save on the high investment costs of building fabrication facilities, as are NEC Corp and the Korean giant, Samsung Electronics Co. Toshiba and IBM plan to have a joint operation running during 1999, and the newspaper report says the alliance includes exchange of technical expertise as well as joint funding of factories that can cost over $1.3bn. 300mm wafers are state of the art technology, offering significant higher volumes and cost advantages over 200mm versions.
