Santa Clara, California-based Intel Corp reports that it is now shipping Flash memory chips manufactured in the US and Japan using its new 0.8-micron ETOX III process technology. The company says it is proceeding with the largest memory products ramp in its history to help alleviate a worldwide Flash shortage. It says the chips are being made at subcontractor Nippon Steel Semiconductor Ltd and at its own Fab 7, one quarter ahead of its revised schedule, and says that adding planned fourth quarter production from another partner, Sharp Corp, it believes it is approaching the end to the shortage brought on last year by a tremendous surge in demand and its own delays in going to the 0.8 micron process. Over the next 18 months, it plans to increase uo raise Intel will increase its Flash unit output by 400% and to ship 80m parts, exceeding its own peak year in EPROM production by about 25m units. It has a big backlog for 2Mb and 4Mb boot block chips, 8M-bit FlashFile memory chip and on the 2Mb to 20Mb Series 2 plug-in PCMCIA Flash memory cards.
