Construction to begin on state-of-the-art production facility a year earlier than planned TOKYO — Toshiba Corp. and SanDisk Corp. plan to advance by approximately one year the schedule for opening a new flash-memory production line in Japan and also increase the capacity of the line, they said Wednesday.The factory will produce NAND flash memory of the type used in memory cards and portable digital electronics products.The two companies announced in December last year plans to build a state-of-the-art production line capable of processing 300-millimeter wafers at Toshiba’s existing facility in Yokkaichi, Japan. At the time they said they hoped to begin mass production during fiscal year 2006, which begins in April of the same year. But the schedule has now been revised with an eye on full-scale production from the second half of fiscal year 2005. “We are advancing the construction schedule for the 300-millimeter clean room by approximately one year,” said Junichi Nagaki, a spokesman for Toshiba in Tokyo. As a result the company plans to begin construction in the first half of fiscal year 2004, which is the period from April to September next year.Initial manufacturing is planned using an as-yet-undeveloped technology that can etch tracks on the chip surface as small as 70 nanometers in width. That represents a generation beyond the most advanced production in use today and the companies said they are currently working on developing the technology to enable it.The two companies also said they are also increasing their estimate of the investment needed in the new plant for the period to the end of fiscal year 2005 from ¥150 billion ($1.4 billion) to ¥200 billion. The amount has been raised because planned production capacity has been increased from 20,000 wafers per month to 25,000 wafers per month, said Nagaki. Toshiba will fund the construction of the building while both companies will pay for the manufacturing equipment. The line will be operated by FlashVision LLC, a joint venture established in 2001 to consolidate their production of NAND-type flash memory.The two companies will soon commence negotiations on a formal agreement to build the production line, said Toshiba.