IBM and Siemens AG have signed a several hundred million dollar agreement to manufacture 16M-bit dynamic random access memory chips at IBM’s Corbeil-Essones facility in France. Jack Keuler, president of IBM, says that the agreement helps achieve a more global balance by establishing 16M-bit manufacturing technology in Europe on a very aggressive schedule. In other words, an attempt to counter Japan Inc. Production is to start at the end of 1991 with shipments set for the second half of 1992. IBM says the plant will be based on existing semiconductor process technology using manufacturing equipment operating on 8 wafers, and the plan is for 600 wafer starts per day, which can be expanded at a later date. The investment split has not been revealed but the facility is to be staffed by 600 specialists from both companies, and IBM intends to use the chips for internal applications, while Siemens will use them in integrated circuits. The agreement is open to additional participation, since spare capacity is available. The facility is said to represent an industrial basis for future manufacture of ASIC products with line widths of 0.5 microns. Both companies signed an agreement in January to develop 64M-bit memory chips with development work concentrating on chip design – the aim is to have a 64M-bit DRAM ready for commercial use in the mid-1990s.
