Spansion to outsource less

By Jim Carbone -- Purchasing, 3/19/2008 11:05:00 AM

Spansion Inc., a leading supplier of flash memory, says it will reduce the amount of flash products it outsources to foundries.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company says it will reduce its reliance on foundries and subcontractors by about $50 million per quarter in the first half of fiscal 2008 compared to the second half of fiscal 2007.

Manufacturing efficiencies resulting in increased output in its Austin, Texas Fab25 and Aizu-Wakamatsu, Japan-based SP1 fab are expected to allow Spansion to reduce its dependencies on outside foundry support, particularly for 90nm product.

Fab25 continues to exceed the company's expectations in both yield and output on its 90nm products. SP1 in Japan has ramped up on 300mm wafers, reaching starts of 2000 wafers per week on 65nm MirrorBit technology flash memory products.

In addition, new testing capabilities are resulting in significant increases in both throughput and yield, specifically on 65nm products, including the company's leading-edge MirrorBit technology flash memory products.

"Last year, Spansion committed to reducing dependencies on external foundry sources and streamlining our own manufacturing and test capabilities, with the ultimate goal being significant cost savings," says Bertrand Cambou, president and CEO, Spansion Inc.
"With the exceptional performance of our worldwide manufacturing and engineering teams, we have met that challenge and are committed to continuing to prove our ability to lead in this highly competitive field."

In addition to Spansion's internal manufacturing focus, the company plans to continue its long-term partnership strategy with a select group of subcontractors, such as ChipMOS for wafer sort and SMIC for wafer foundry.