Infineon exec damns DRAM glut feeding Koreans

Infineon Technologies -- the semiconductor business formerly known as Siemens -- has slammed South Korean DRAM manufacturers for pumping memory into an already glutted global marketplace. Interviewed by Semiconductor Business News, Infineon VP of operations Andreas von Zitzewtiz, said: "Korean companies supply 40 per cent of the global DRAM [market], yet sell only five per cent of their production to their domestic market. "This is a terrible imbalance that should not be tolerated." Zitzewtiz cited Samsung as an example of Korea's drive to boost DRAM production to increase export sales. Despite the world DRAM glut, he said, Samsung is adding a new Line 9 fab in South Korea even as it expands its Austin, Texas production facility. The Infineon executive was keen, though, to stress his company's positive role in dealing with the glut. "We closed a completely new DRAM fab in the UK, phased out DRAM production in our Regensburg, Germany fab and stopped Phase 2 expansion at our joint-venture fab with Mosel-Vitelic in Taiwan," he explained. "Our biggest DRAM dab in Dresden is moving more into logic and non-memory ICs." However, it's not clear whether Zitzewtiz coughed up to how many jobs have been lost in the process. At least 1000 staff were made redundant with the closure of the UK plant. See also Siemens to repay UK grant Siemens changes name to Infineon Chip market showed steep decline in 1998 German company Siemens owes Brits £50 million