The yield problem was caused by ion implantation equipment, said the sources. Output from the affected production capacity may not be completely scrapped, but they definitely cannot be sold to PC OEMs due to quality concerns, the sources indicated.
Kingston has booked a capacity for about 20,000 wafers monthly at Powerchip's P3 12-inch wafer fab, the sources revealed. Powerchip uses 30nm process technology to manufacture DRAM chips for Kingston.
Yield problems with Powerchip's 30nm process will likely worsen the shortage of DRAM chips on the contract market, the sources noted.
Powerchip 30nm DRAM production suffering from low yields
Posted on Wednesday, October 02 2013 @ 12:56 CEST by Thomas De MaesschalckDigiTimes writes a portion of Powerchip's 30nm DRAM production is suffering from low yield rates due to an issue with ion implantation equipment. The issue affects about 7,000 to 8,000 of the wafers that Kingston has booked and may lead to further increases in DRAM pricing.
