Toshiba and SanDisk Celebrate Construction of 300mm Wafer Fab Building for NAND Flash Memory At Yokkaichi Operations

21 February, 2005


300mm Wafer Fab Building for NAND Flash Memory At Yokkaichi Operations
 
300mm Wafer Fab Building for NAND Flash Memory At Yokkaichi Operations
     
300mm Wafer Fab Building for NAND Flash Memory At Yokkaichi Operations
 
300mm Wafer Fab Building for NAND Flash Memory At Yokkaichi Operations

Toshiba Corporation
SanDisk Corporation

YOKKAICHI and TOKYO -- Toshiba Corporation and SanDisk Corporation today marked the completion of an advanced wafer fabrication facility at Toshiba's Yokkaichi Operations with a traditional ceremony and reception. The new fab is expected to come on line in the second half of CY2005, ahead of the original schedule, and produce NAND flash memories on 300mm wafers.

Responding to rising demand for NAND, a versatile non-volatile memory used in a wide range of digital electronic devices, Toshiba and SanDisk, strategic collaborators in NAND flash memory development and production, initiated construction of the fab in April 2004. The total investment in the new fab, called Fab 3, is expected to approach 270-billion yen (approximately US$2.6 billion) by the end of March 2007. Flash Partners, Ltd., a Toshiba-SanDisk venture established in September 2004, 50.1% owned by Toshiba and 49.9% by SanDisk, will fund the advanced manufacturing equipment to be installed in Fab 3.

Commenting on the new facility, Mr. Masashi Muromachi, Corporate Vice President of Toshiba Corporation and President & CEO of Toshiba's Semiconductor Company, said, "We are very happy to complete the construction of this new state-of-the-art NAND flash fab in collaboration with SanDisk. We believe the NAND market will see annual growth rates over 30% from 2004 to 2008, from 700-billion yen to 2,100-billion yen, and we expect to see approximately 200% annual growth in bit storage capacity. We expect the new fab will assure our responsiveness to growing demand for higher-density NAND flash in an increasingly strong market."

Dr. Eli Harari, president and chief executive officer of SanDisk Corporation, said, "I am greatly honored to represent SanDisk today in this milestone event. Fab 3 is a testimony to the success of the relationship between Toshiba and SanDisk, two highly innovative companies that have pioneered the flash technology that is enabling so many new applications in consumer electronics and mobile markets. With this large-scale investment, SanDisk is expressing our commitment to expanding NAND production at Toshiba and in Japan. We look forward to working together to make Fab 3 achieve its full potential as a highly competitive, leading-edge manufacturing fab in the second half of this decade."

The 300mm-wafer fab is expected to start production in the second half of CY2005 and is planned to quickly ramp up output to 10,000 wafers a month by late 2005. Capacity will then be expanded as dictated by market demand to up to 40,000 wafers a month by the first half of CY2007. Output during each phase of expansion is expected to be equally shared between Toshiba and SanDisk. The fab still has space to expand capacity, and further investment could take output to as high as 62,500 wafers a month.

At the time of production start-up, the new facility will employ 90-nanometer (nm) process technology jointly developed by Toshiba and SanDisk. The 300mm-wafer fab will migrate to the 70nm process in the first half of CY2006, ahead of the original schedule, following the first mass-production of NAND flash memory with 70nm process technology in existing Yokkaichi 200mm-wafer fab in 2005. The 300mm fab is also slated to mass-produce NAND flash memory based on 55 nm process technology in late CY2006.

Environmentally conscious design will reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and perfluorocarbons from the new clean room, while the energy consumed in wafer processing will be 30% lower than that in Toshiba's current 200mm wafer clean rooms.

Note: 1 nanometer = one billionth of a meter

Outline of New 300mmwafer facility at Yokkaichi Operations

Building Structure : Five-story building
Site Area : 24,300m2
Floor Area : 113,000m2
Area of Clean Room : 34,500m2
Start of Production : Second half of 2005 (projected)

Outline of Yokkaichi Operations

Location : 800 Yamanoisshiki-cho, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie Prefecture, Japan
Established : 1992
General Manager : Jiro Ooshima
Employees : Approximately 1,950
Total Area : Approximately 312,000m2
Total Building Area : Approximately 180,000m2 (excluding new 300mm facility)

About Toshiba Corporation
Toshiba Corporation is a leader in the development and manufacture of electronic devices and components, information and communication systems, consumer products and power systems. The company's ability to integrate wide ranging capabilities, from hardware to software and innovative services, assure its position as an innovator in diverse fields and many businesses. In semiconductors, Toshiba continues to build on its world-class position in NAND flash memories, analog devices and discrete devices and to promote its leadership in the fast growing system-on-chip market. Toshiba has approximately 161,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of over US$55 billion.

About SanDisk Corporation
SanDisk is the original inventor of flash storage cards and is the world's largest supplier of flash data storage card products, using its patented, high-density flash memory and controller technology. SanDisk is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA and has operations worldwide, with more than half its sales outside the U.S.

Forward Looking Statements
The matters discussed in this news release contain forward looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. These statements include statements relating to commencement of production and achievement of expected yields at Fab 3 and the successful development and transition to advanced technologies. Factors that could cause such forward-looking statements to be inaccurate or incorrect include possible delays in expected production or failure to attain expected yields and other factors described in the companies' public filings, including SanDisk's annual report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. The companies assume no obligation to update the information in this release.


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