NEC Electronics Corp., Japan's third-biggest chip maker, said it spent ¥10 billion to begin production of smaller chips for electronics, including Nintendo Co.'s Wii console and Sony Corp.'s Bravia televisions.
About 15 percent, or 2,000 wafers a month, of the 300-mm line capacity at a factory in Yamagata Prefecture, will produce 40-nanometer chips, its most advanced, NEC Electronics said in a statement distributed Friday at the plant. The spending includes the purchase and installation of an ASML Holding NV lithography machine, which burns transistor patterns on silicon wafers and is the most expensive chip-making device.