Heard on the Beat: Toshiba fab rumors

More rumors are floating around about Toshiba Corp.'s new NAND flash-memory plant, a 300-mm mega fab that is called Fab 5. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Friday (July 7) said that Toshiba's existing plant site in Iwate in northern Japan and Oita of western Japan are among candidate sites for the new fab, according to Market Watch.

There have been numerous reports about Fab 5 in recent months. According to news reports back in March, Toshiba is supposed to spend billions of yen to build another new 300-mm fab, with construction slated to start by 2009. Toshiba's flash-memory partner, SanDisk Corp., is said to be involved with the project.

As previously reported,, Toshiba and its NAND flash-memory partner, SanDisk, will jointly spend about 500 billion yen ($4.23 billion) to upgrade its fab complex in Yokkaichi, Japan. Production for the new Fab 4 plant will start as early as 2007.