DRAM memory maker to increase production capacity TOKYO — Elpida Memory Inc., Japan’s only major DRAM (dynamic RAM) memory maker, has raised ¥170 billion ($1.6 billion) to increase production capacity at its Japanese plant, it said Wednesday.The company, which was formed in 1999 through a merger of NEC Corp. and Hitachi Ltd.’s DRAM operations, said the money has come from a number of organizations. They include Intel Corp., the Development Bank of Japan, Yokogawa Electric Corp., Kingston Technology Corp. and both NEC and Hitachi, according to Yuko Takahashi, a spokeswoman for Elpida in Tokyo.The additional money will be spent to expand capacity on the company’s advanced fabrication line at its plant in Hiroshima. Original volume for the line, which handles 300-millimeter diameter wafer at a resolution of 0.1 microns (100 nanometers), was pegged at 16,000 wafers per month but that will now be raised to 21,000 wafers per month, said Takahashi. The extra output will be directed towards production of high-value memory chips such as DDR2 (Double Data Rate 2) memory chips for computers and devices for use in cellular telephones and digital consumer electronics devices, Elpida said.The announcement Wednesday follows a weekend newspaper report that said Elpida was talking with the Development Bank of Japan regarding an investment.