The board of directors of Rexchip Electronics has approved a budget of NT$3.598 billion (US$2.89 billion) for the company's transition to 30nm-class process technology. The spending will account for the majority of Rexchip's total capex for 2011.

Rexchip's board also approved the company's financial report for 2010, during which it generated net profits of NT$12.58 billion or NT$4.27 a share. However, the board decided not to distribute dividends for the year in a bid to preserve capital strength.

2010 was Rexchiip's first profit-making year since it was founded three years ago. Rexchip's net losses over 2007-2009 totaled about NT$11 billion.

Rexchip is scheduled to hold its annual general shareholders meeting on May 26.

Rexchip is a DRAM-manufacturing joint venture between Japan's Elpida Memory and Taiwan-based Powerchip Technology. Earlier in 2011, Powerchip unveiled plans to shift all of its commodity DRAM capacity to Elpida on an OEM basis and transform its business into a foundry model. Elpida will accordingly receive the output reserved for Powerchip from Rexchip's 12-inch fab after signing a contract with Powerchip.

Elpida president and CEO Yukio Sakamoto was quoted as saying in previous reports that Rexchip will also make mobile DRAM products for Elpida, starting the third quarter of 2011. Elpida's Hiroshima, Japan plant, where capacity has been shifted to mobile DRAM production, will reach full capacity during the quarter.

Rexchip now supplies almost 70% of its total DRAM production to Elpida based on Elpida's holdings in the company. Rexchip runs a 12-inch plant with a monthly capacity of 80,00-85,000 wafers, and uses Elpida's 40nm-class stack design as its major process technology.