TOKYO (AP) - Japan's Toshiba Corp. will more than double its monthly production of NAND flash memory chips to increase market share and recoup losses from falling prices.
Toshiba will increase its monthly output of flash memory chips using 300-millimter wafers to 210,000 by June 2008, from 100,000 wafers as of March, the Tokyo-based electronics manufacturer said Tuesday.
Memory chips are a major source of income for Toshiba, but prices are falling. Toshiba expects prices of NAND flash memory chips to fall 50 percent this fiscal year through March 2008.
The company has been cutting costs and making more advanced, higher density products to protect its margins. Toshiba can also increase its income by producing more chips, because demand is strong, the company said.
The company can only supply about 60 percent to 70 percent of its orders currently, a company spokesman said.
Toshiba had 30.7 percent of the global NAND flash memory market in the January-March quarter, behind South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. with a 44.1 percent share, according to U.S. company iSuppli.
