Winbond Electronics saw shipments of chips built using 38nm process technology ramp up substantially to account for 24% of the chipmaker's total DRAM sales in the third quarter of 2018. The company expects to start producing chips using a newer 25nm process node in the fourth quarter.

The more-advanced 25nm process is the second generation of Winbond's in-house developed process technology for the manufacture of DRAM memory. Sales of Winbond's DRAM memory mainly specialty DRAM chips accounted for 43% of company revenues in the third quarter of 2018, followed by NOR chip sales with 40%, mobile memory sales with 10% and NAND chip sales with 7%.

Winbond's overall product ASPs stayed flat sequentially in the third quarter, while production capacity was fully utilized, said company president Tung-Yi Chan. ASPs for SLC NAND chips were under downward pressure, while NOR chip ASPs were affected negatively by China's spot market prices. DRAM ASPs were relatively stable in the third quarter, according to Chan.

Winbond expects to see its product ASPs remain under pressure in the fourth quarter due to seasonal factors. The existing macroeconomic factors such as the escalating US-China trade war will have a short-term impact on Winbond's performance, Chan indicated.

With end-market demand remaining healthy, Winbond is still optimistic going forward, Chan said.

In addition, before its new plant in southern Taiwan comes online, Winbond will continue to upgrade its process technology for modest bit supply growth, Chan noted. Winbond estimated 2018 capex at NT$17.8 billion (US$574.6 million), up from the NT$15.2 billion allocated last year.

Winbond held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new 12-inch wafer fab in Kaohsiung recently. Construction of the fab is scheduled to complete by 2020.

Winbond reported net profits climbed to an 18-year high of NT$2.84 billion in the third quarter of 2018. EPS for the quarter came to NT$0.71. Winbond's net profits for the first three quarters of the year totaled NT$6.57 billion, rising 74.6% from the same period in 2017, with EPS reaching NT$1.65.