Taiwan Memory Corporation Facts and Rumors

Digitimes reports that Formosa Plastics Group, the parent company of DRAM makers Nanya Technology and Inotera Memories, is prepared to pursue talks with John Hsuan, chairman elect of Taiwan Memory Company (TMC), for its possible involvement in the just-announced DRAM entity. The island's largest plastics manufacturing conglomerate has been backing its subsidiaries' camp, with Micron Technology of the US as the technology partner, in the race to receive capital support from the Taiwan government. Other TMC parties, Rexchip, Powerchip, ProMOS Technologies and Winbond, support Elpida of Japan as the technology partner.

The rumor is that Aptina has selected Nanya as its Far-East manufacturing partner, in addition to Micron's Italy fab, but this was well before the TMC idea. John Hsuan, the chairman of the new entity, is rumored to be a big supporter of image sensor manufacturing at TMC. So, if Nanya joins TMC (it has some good reasons to remain separate, though), we might find all six TMC member companies producing Aptina-developed sensors.