MUNICH; Germany — Fighting for survival, insolvent DRAM maker Qimonda has announced it has produced first wafers containing DDR3 Buried Wordline memory chips in 46nm geometries. What seems like good news for the company as a whole in fact is bad news for the company's Sandston fab.

Given the cost disadvantage of the mainstream chips manufactured in its 300-mm fab in Sandston, Virginia, Qimonda has decided to wind this fab down. The company's 200-mm fab at the same location is already in the process of being closed. A Qimonda spokesperson said there is not enough capital available for the company to upgrade that fab. "We make a loss with every chip we produce there," he said. The cost difference of 40 percent compared to Dresden's current Buried Wordline chips would render Sandston non-competitive. The move will affect 1500 workers in Sandston.

At the same time, the insolvent memory maker announces it has produced pilot wafers containing 46-nm chip designs that in normal times would have been hailed by the stock exchanges. If implemented in 46-nm geometries, three times as many chips fit on a single wafer compared to 75nm mainstream technology. The cost advantage would be almost proportional to the number of devices per chip.

Past November, the company started ramping up its 65nm Buried Wordline production which, once established with high yields, would have led to a price advantage of 40 percent over the current 75nm mainstream. The 46nm memory chip produced now has the potential to further improve the price advantage — if the company would be able to bring it to mass production. According to the spokesperson this would take about six months under normal circumstances.

Given the harsh "No" from EC Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen with respect to EC subsidies to save Qimonda, it seems more than questionable that the company will have enough time.

A quantum of solace came, however, from Intel's senior vice president Pat Gelsinger. "Qimonda delivered memory modules that are leading in performance and power allowing optimal system performance," he said at the opportunity of a recent award ceremony. Interestingly however, he used the past tense.