Slumping prices of 16M-bit memory chips are driving Japanese manufacturers to begin the shift to 64Ms sooner than they had intended, in a quest for higher margins. NEC Corp says it plans to start making 64Ms by the end of December at a plant in Hiroshima Prefecture that is now producing 16M-bit memory chips, raising its output of the parts from all plants to 500,000 a month from a planned 300,000 in December, rising to 1million a month next March. Toshiba Corp says it will start producing 64Ms earlier than planned at its Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, plant, and Hitachi Ltd says its US plant jointly owned with Texas Instruments Inc may start 64M chip production earlier than intended.
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