In separate projects, Matsushita Electric Co Ltd and Fujitsu Ltd are to start mass production of ferroelectric random access memory chips in preparation for their inclusion in integrated circuit cards as electronic money. FeRAM technology retains its state when the power is off, and the chips are rewritable around one trillion times, operating at low levels of electricity consumption. Both Japanese electronics giants will start mass production of the FeRAM chips by the end of the year, according to reports in Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun. Fujitsu will initially manufacture 3,000 cards a month using 64Kb FeRAMs at its plant in Iwate Prefecture and gradually build up its output. Matsushita intends to establish a manufacturing line that will churn out 20,000 six inch wafers a month at a subsidiary site in Toyama Prefecture. Japanese electronics companies have been fiercely competing to get part of the FeRAM action, and it is anticipated that the global FeRAM market will be worth $23.5bn by 2010. It is anticipated the FeRAMs will be increasingly used as electronic money, electronic cards and identification cards become more popular. Sample shipments should be available to manufacturers by June.
