Nanya raising capital to upgrade its fabs for 20nm DRAM production

Nanya Technology announced plans to convert its 300mm DRAM production capacity to the 20nm process. Company president Pei Ing Lee explained his firm will raise capital and seek strategic partners towards the end of this year to achieve this goal. DigiTimes heard rumors that Kingston and an unnamed Taiwanese DRAM module maker have expressed interest in participating in the upcoming funding round.

Nanya's previously planned to raise funds in early 2015, but postponed it due to unfavorable market conditions. DRAM prices have been on a decline dragging down the worldwide output in value in 2015. Nanya will move to speed up its transition to a "die-shrink" 30nm node technology, Lee indicated. Nanya has converted 40% of the company's total wafer start capacity to the process, and the proportion will exceed 50% in the fourth quarter, Lee said.

Lee noted that PC DRAM prices remain under downward pressure in the fourth quarter of 2015, but end-market demand is picking up. Nevertheless, customers are still engaged in inventory adjustments, Lee said. Nanya and other DRAM makers originally gave a general optimistic outlook about 2015, but actual market conditions have been a disappointment, Lee said.