Nanya, Inotera post combined losses of over NT$51 billion in 2012

Nanya Technology and Inotera Memories have reported net losses of NT$8.88 billion (US$306.48 million) and NT$3.72 billion respectively for the fourth quarter of 2012. For all of 2012, Nanya posted losses of NT$36.04 billion, while Inotera's losses totaled NT$15.54 billion or NT$2.95 per share, according to company data.

However, the supply of DRAM chips is expected to become tight in the second quarter of 2013, which is likely to push up contract quotes for memory chips in the next two quarters, Nanya said.

Increasing memory capacity at mobile devices including tablets and smartphones combined with the growing cloud computing industry are positive to demand for DRAM chips, Nanya added.

Nanya's financial structure is also set to improve soon after the company amended recently a DRAM technology joint development agreement with Micron Technology, which will cut its R&D expenditures to NT$500 million a month compared to NT$2 billion previously, Nanya revealed.

Inotera is expected to swing back to profitability in the second quarter of 2013 at the earliest, while Nanya may begin to generate profits a quarter later, according to an estimate by industry sources.