Chinese memory makers investing billions in 19nm DRAM tech

China is upping its efforts to become a major player in the global semiconductor market. Manufacturers in the country are technologically behind the major industry players but the country is pouring a lot of money in this sector. The latest news coming out of China is that GigaDevice Semiconductor and Hefei RuiLi Integrated Circuit Manufacture (formerly Hefei ChangXin IC) will joinly develop a 19nm DRAM process. The two companies will invest 18 billion yuan ($2.71 billion) to manufacture 19nm DRAM in 300mm fabs, a move that will result in the creation of yet another major Chinese DRAM player.

The tie-up will enable the two firms to jointly compete against the other two major players in the China DRAM industry, Yangtze Memory Technology under Tsinghua Unigroup, and Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit affiliated with Taiwan-based United Microelectronics (UMC), to win the crowns in the fields of DRAM, NOR flash and 2D NAND in China.

The collaboration is based on a five-year cooperation agreement signed between Hefei Industry Investment Group (HIIG), which wholly owns Hefei Ruili IC, and Beijing-based GigaDevice, with the former to contribute 80% of the total investment of CNY18 billion and the latter 20%.

Full details at DigiTimes.