Micron Technology plans to buy touch panel maker Cando's plant in central Taiwan, which will be operated by Powertech Technology (PTI) to provide the US memory vendor packaging and testing services, according to industry sources.

PTI is expected to start volume production for Micron at the plant located in Taichung as early as 2017, said the sources. The facility will be largely responsible for the backend part of Micron's production, mainly that of mobile DRAM products in Taiwan, the sources added.

Micron is already partnering with PTI for assembly and packaging services in Xian, China. The pair has built a joint-venture fab in Xian with volume production kicking off in March 2016. At the end of 2014, Micron and PTI announced a strategic partnership under which PTI would occupy the JV fab and provide Micron with assembly and packaging services for a period of several years.

In addition, Micron is expected to soon finalize its planned deal to buy Taiwan-based DRAM firm Inotera Memories. Micron has agreed to acquire all the shares it does not own in Inotera, and to have Inotera merge with its Taiwan unit, Micron Semiconductor Taiwan (MST). Inotera chairman Pei-Ing Lee remarked previously that Taiwan would become Micron's largest site for the manufacture of DRAM memory.

MST, formerly Rexchip Electronics, became a unit of Micron following the US firm's takeover of Japan's Elpida Memory. MST is a 12-inch DRAM fab located in Taichung.

In other news, Cando on July 21 disclosed its liabilities have exceeded total assets prompting the company to file for bankruptcy protection. Cando is a subsidiary of TPK Holdings, which is reportedly among Apple's suppliers.