Powerchip likely to keep P3 fab

High-level executives at Powerchip Technology and several Taiwan-based niche-market memory suppliers together visited Taiwan's Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs on January 17 to discuss the possibility of jointly bidding for Powerchip's P3 12-inch wafer fab, according to industry sources.

In response, Powerchip declined to comment on the reports.

Led by Powerchip chairman Steve Chen, who formerly was Taiwan's minister of economic affairs, the group of company executives expressed their intent to jointly save Powerchip's P3 fab with an investment estimated at US$200 million, the sources said.

P3 is one of Powerchip's 12-inch plants, dedicated to producing PC DRAM chips. The facility is scheduled to be put on sale at the end of January, the sources indicated.

Etron Technology chairman Nicky Lu, Winbond Electronics president Tung-yi Chan, Zentel Electronics chairman Michael Tsai, and Chen Hsin Hai, chairman for Elite Semiconductor Memory Technology (ESMT), reportedly are among the group of negotiators, the sources revealed.