Sept. 10, 2008 – Following a third straight quarter of losses, Elpida Memory says it will reduce its DRAM output at its plant in Hiroshima, western Japan, by about 10% to 10,000 300mm wafers by mid-September.

Company president Yukio Sakamoto recently told the Nikkei daily paper that the company would continue to invest in China as the final frontier in the DRAM wars, but not in Japan due to a lack of support from local government. He made no mention in the interview, however, about potential production cutbacks.

Now Sakamoto is quoted saying the cutbacks are aimed at stopping the continued slide in DRAM prices, and will remain in place until ASPs bounce back, hopefully in 1H09 — adding that by then it’s possible that 1-2 DRAM players could be out of the market.

Elpida expects its September quarter to be in the same ballpark as its June quarter (¥109.22B/$1.02B sales, ¥15.62B/US $145.5M operating loss).