TOKYO and MILPITAS, CALIFORNIA, August 4, 2006–Toshiba Corporation
(Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan) and SanDisk Corporation (Milpitas, CA, USA)
today announced that, further to definitive agreements that the
companies entered into in July 2006, construction has started of Fab
4, a 300-millimeter (mm) wafer fab, in Yokkaichi, in Mie Prefecture,
Japan.
The NAND flash memory market is growing fast, on healthy growth in a
wide range of digital electronic applications, including MP3 music
players, mobile phones and several kinds of memory cards. Toshiba and
SanDisk started operation of a state-of-the-art 300-millimeter (mm)
wafer fab, Fab 3, in summer 2005, at Yokkaichi Operations, and have
boosted the facility’s capacity to meet market demand. Today’s start
of construction reflects the need for a new facility, in parallel
with expansion of Fab 3, in order to meet anticipated demand for NAND
flash memory products in 2008 and beyond.
Investment in Fab 4 over the two years from April 2006 to March 2008
is expected to reach about 300 billion yen. Toshiba will fund
construction of the building and Flash Alliance, Ltd., a new joint
venture between Toshiba and SanDisk for Fab 4, will fund the fab’s
advanced manufacturing equipment. The production output from Fab 4
will be equally shared between Toshiba and SanDisk.
Fab 4 is expected to come on line in the fourth quarter (Oct-Dec) of
2007, with an initial capacity of 2,500 wafers a month. It is
currently estimated that the capacity of 67,500 wafers a month will
be reached by the fourth quarter of 2008. At the time of production
start-up, Fab 4 is intended to employ cutting-edge 56-nanometer (nm)
process technology and to subsequently migrate to finer geometries.
In order to limit impact on operations from natural disasters, Fab 4
will adopt the latest earthquake-absorbing structure that is expected
to dampen quake force by almost two-thirds. It will also deploy
superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) that is designed to be
triggered instantaneously by any sudden, momentary loss of power
supply, from a lightning strike for example, to prevent any impact on
production.
Through construction of Fab 4, Toshiba and SanDisk will continue to
expand production capacity. Combined with advanced process technology
and multi-level cell technology, this expansion is expected to allow
the companies to further enhance their competitiveness and secure
continued leadership in the NAND flash memory market.
Note: 1 nanometer = one billionth of a meter
Outline of Fab 4 at Yokkaichi Operations – Structure of Building:
Steel frame concrete, five stories (two CR stories) – Building Area:
approx. 35,500m2
– Floor Area: approx. 181,000m2
– Area of Clean Room: approx. 48,800m2
– Start Construction: August, 2006
– Completion of Building: July 2007 (plan) – Start Production: 4Q
(October — December), 2007(plan)
Outline of Yokkaichi Operations
– Location: 800 Yamanoisshiki-cho, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie Prefecture,
Japan – Established: 1992
– General Manager: Noriyoshi Tozawa
– Employees: Approx. 2,200
– Total Site Area: Approx. 312,300m2
– Total Floor Area: Approx. 260,000m2 (excluding new 300mm facility (Fab 4))
Outline of Flash Alliance, Ltd.
– Location: 800 Yamanoisshiki-cho, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie Prefecture,
Japan – Established: July, 2006
– President: Yasuo Naruke
– Capitalization: 3 million yen
– Holding: Toshiba: 50.1%, SanDisk: 49.9%
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements,
including statements about our business outlook, technological
advancements, construction timetables, construction plans to reduce
risk of damages from earthquakes or power interruptions, production
schedules, geometries, expected output and effects on financial
performance, costs of new fab facilitization and supply and demand
that are based on our current expectations and involve numerous risks
and uncertainties that may cause these forward-looking statements to
be inaccurate and may significantly and adversely affect our
business, financial condition and results of operations. These risks
and uncertainties are discussed in detail under the title “Risk
Factors” and elsewhere in the documents we file from time to time
with the SEC, including in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for our
2005 fiscal year and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.