April 22, 2008 – Qimonda AG reported a €468M loss in its fiscal 2Q08 on €412M in sales that were down -20% Q-Q and -58% Y-Y, and indicated it is still mired in “extremely difficult market conditions.” The loss was a slight improvement from 1Q (€590M), but way off from a year ago (&euro’85M EBIT gain).

Barrons blogger Eric Savitz summarized the quarterly numbers: Y-Y bit growth of 48%, and bit production up 6%, but bit shipments fell 9% as inventories decreased, while ASPs plummeted 67%. The company hasn’t sat still, though — it’s slashed its capex in half, phased out 200mm sites and reduced its 300mm foundry loading.

For fiscal 3Q08, Qimonda projects a single-digit percentage drop in bit production vs. 2Q, and a 20%-30% ramp in bit production for the full year, down from earlier projections of 30%-40%. SG&A for the hear is now forecast to be €180M-€200M instead of €210M-€230M.

Along with the financials, Qimonda also discussed changes in its technology partnerships, revealing that it has signed a license and foundry deal with Winbond for 65nm buried wordline technology, a conversion from the two firms’ previous pact for 58nm DRAM trench technology. The new work reportedly will be done at Winbond’s 300mm fab, with the first product (a 1G DDR2) due in September.

The firm also says it’s taking a “second step” in a cost reduction program, targeting €1080M in annual savings, part of which is a 10% workforce reduction — including nonvolatile memory development to basic research, and termination of a related deal with Macronix that was announced in January.