Mosel Vitelic Inc. and Siemens AG Form Joint Venture to Manufacture Computer Memory; New Company Will Produce 64 and 256 Mbit DRAMs for Worldwide Markets

Business Wire, Sept 26, 1996

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 26, 1996--Mosel Vitelic Inc., Taipei, Taiwan, and Siemens AG, Berlin and Munich, today announced formation of ProMOS Technologies, Inc., a joint venture company that will manufacture advanced high-density DRAMs.

The new company, headquartered at Science Based Industrial Park in Hsinchu, plans to begin production with 64 Mbit DRAMs and to add 256 Mbit DRAMs later.

In an announcement made in Taipei, Hung-Chiu Hu was named chairman, Dr. Nasa Tsai as president and Dr. Karl Heinz Horninger the executive vice president of ProMOS Technologies, Inc. The new company described its plans to operate a semiconductor manufacturing plant now under construction in Taiwan.

Siemens AG will contribute its advanced DRAM designs and technology to the joint venture. The new company intends also to establish its own R & D activities.

The joint venture provides a new source of high-density DRAMs for the worldwide electronic systems market. Current plans call for production of both 64 Mbit and 256 Mbit DRAMs utilizing initially 0.35 micron and later 0.25 micron CMOS processes. Both founding companies will contribute management and engineering resources to ProMOS Technologies.

The investment is divided into two parts: in the first stage it will cost US$1.0 billion and in the second stage another US$0.7 billion. The total number of employees will be approximately 1,500.

"Through the joint venture and business partnership with Siemens AG, Mosel Vitelic quickly gains access to new, high-density DRAM configurations to complement our existing lines of business," said Hung-Chiu Hu, chairman and president of Mosel Vitelic Inc.

"The shared investment in new manufacturing capacity allows both partners to realize maximum benefit, while allowing Mosel Vitelic to vault past 16 Mbit memory suppliers and directly enter high-value markets for main memory products. Combined with our strong position as the leading supplier of specialized memories for computer peripherals, this new venture will move us to the next phase of corporate growth."

Dr. Ulrich Schumacher, nominated as Group President of the Siemens Semiconductor Group, sees the joint venture as a major step in Siemens Semiconductors' strategy of internationalization and globalization.

"The partnership with Mosel Vitelic gives us the chance to be better implemented in the South East Asian semiconductor market and to be closer to our customers. It is the last in a string of measures towards becoming an even more reliable and stronger partner for our customers worldwide, with manufacturing and marketing operations in Europe, North America and South East Asia," he said.

"Furthermore," said Schumacher, "we are aware that our customers expect to be supplied with 64 Mbit memories as soon as possible. The joint venture with Mosel Vitelic supports us to meet this demand."

Mosel Vitelic, the first Taiwan-based company to offer DRAM products for export to international markets, designs, manufactures and markets IC memory products used for computer graphics, data storage, telecommunications, digital consumer electronics and computer peripheral applications.

The company applies state-of-the-art design techniques and process technologies to manufacture DRAM, VRAM and SRAM memories in specific configurations and with fast access rates not typically provided by general purpose RAM products. The publicly held company's common stock trades on the Taiwan (Republic of China) Stock Exchange. Mosel Vitelic's home page on the World Wide Web can be reached via http://www.moselvitelic.com.

Siemens AG of Berlin and Munich is a major force in the global electrical engineering and electronics industry. The Semiconductor Group is focused on value-added integrated circuits and discrete-, power- and opto-semiconductors. Its broad product line serves a wide range of customers active in telecommunications, automation, automotive electronics and consumer electronics. Siemens home page on the World Wide Web can be reached via http://www.siemens.de.

CONTACT: Mosel Vitelic

Esther Hsieh, 408/433-6025

or

Siemens Semiconductor

Georg-Ludwig Radke, 49-89-4144-8480

or

Siemens Components

Tamara Polahar, 408/777-4959