Toshiba Corp is to triple the production of 64-bit dynamic random access memory chips, but at the same time will reduce its output of the 16Mb DRAM chips as demand dwindles. Toshiba is aiming to be producing 10 million 64Mb DRAM processors by March next year, boosting the figure from the current three million and hopes that figure will reach eight million by the end of this year. There is an uncertain future in store for the 16Mb chips, which Toshiba will start reducing as of this March; the company currently produces seven of the chips a month, but has not decided what the production rate will be reduced to. As it increases the 64Mb chip production, Toshiba will have to decide on capital investment for its semiconductor division in the year running up to March 1999. As of yet no decision has been reached, although the company said last October capital investment for 1997/98 would stay the same as the previous year at about $1.32bn.
