Ingrid Lee, Taipei; Jessie Shen

 

The growing supply-demand imbalance in the PC DRAM market has discouraged packaging and testing firms from paying attention to the segment, with some looking to completely phase out their DRAM backend business.

Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL) has already moved to withdraw from the DRAM packaging and testing business. The company decided to sell all of its production equipment used to package and test DRAM products with an aim to concentrate on backend services for logic ICs.

SPIL also gave up its LCD driver IC packaging and testing operations through selling its related equipment with the unoccupied space utilized to expand its logic IC packaging and testing capacity.

ChipMOS Technologies, which took over equipment from SPIL, remarked recently that the company would lower its reliance on the PC DRAM market while dedicating more efforts to backend services for LCD driver ICs and flash products.

ChipMOS also acquired LCD driver IC backend equipment from SPIL. ChipMOS expects sales of its driver IC assembly and testing services to account for 40% of company revenues sometime in 2011.

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) has revealed plans to scale back the operations of subsidiary ASE Power Technology, which specializes in DRAM packaging and testing. ASE Power may end up merging with the parent company if it continues to suffer losses, ASE indicated earlier.

ASE Power recently sold some of its testing equipment to Powertech Technology (PTI) and Walton Advanced Engineering.

PTI and Walton, two major memory-IC packaging and testing firms, have both hinted at a particularly weak third quarter. The companies were quoted as saying in previous reports that some DRAM chipmakers have moved to cut back production aimed at improving the oversupply situation.