TOKYO -- Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has decided in principle to construct advanced semiconductor production facilities employing 300-millimeter diameter wafers. The company resolved to go ahead with the investment project in order to assure its continued leadership and competitiveness in the System LSI and memory businesses.

Toshiba will construct production lines based on 300mm wafers at two of its major facilities in Japan. The first will be at Oita Operations, the company's system LSI production base in Oita Prefecture, Kyushu; the second at Yokkaichi Operations, its memory production base in Mie Prefecture. The investment program will extend over four years from FY2003 and is expected to total approximately 350 billion yen.

Announcing the investment project, Takeshi Nakagawa, Senior Vice President of Toshiba and Company President and CEO of its Semiconductor Company, said: "As a world leader in semiconductors, Toshiba is determined to remain a driving force in technological innovation and in providing customers with excellent products and solutions. These new facilities will allow us to deploy industry-leading process technology that will reinforce our leadership in key growth markets."

The new production line at Oita Operations will mass-produce cutting-edge System LSIs for broadband network applications, using the company's world-leading embedded DRAM process technology. This advanced facility, which is expected to adopt 45-nanometer process technology in the future, will assure Toshiba retain its leadership in the System LSI business. Construction will start in FY2003 and mass production is scheduled to start in FY2004.

The new facility at Yokkaichi Operations will mass-produce NAND-type Flash memories, allowing Toshiba to maintain its leadership and competitiveness in a fast-growing market. Mass production is expected to begin in FY2006.

Further detailed plans will be worked out in light of market trends and announced in due course.

Cautionary Statements
The above forecasts contain "Material Information" as defined by the Securities and Exchange Law of Japan. Should you first learn of this information on this home page within 12 hours of its release (3 o'clock on December 14, 2002 JST), you might be regarded as a "primary recipient" of information relevant to insider trading. In that case, selling, buying or other transaction of shares of stock or other securities of Toshiba Corporation before the expiration of the 12-hour period are prohibited by the law.