Mashing six companies together is proving tricky, complicated by overlapping technology alliances and the near-bankruptcy of the weakest player, ProMOS. Taiwan Memory Inc could be funded by state capital and equity from the Formosa Plastics Group, parent of two of the chipmakers. On paper, the mega-corp would boast market share of 22 per cent in dynamic random access memory chips – used for short-term storage in computers and other gadgets – posing a real threat to Korea's Samsung (27 per cent) and Hynix (21 per cent). But that simple calculation overlooks the painful integration process and Taiwan's inexperience in technology consolidation – its only big merger was to create flat-panel display-maker AU Optronics in 2001.
執行長們哀嘆看不清前景已成爲時尚。但臺灣的存儲晶片製造商來說，前景卻再清楚不過了：臃腫的行業規模必須收縮。最好的結果是——至少對臺灣而言，由政府主導的行業重組可以保留2.8萬個本地就業機會中的大部分。最糟糕的結果是，利己主義和貸款機構從中作梗，臺灣將近乎全部的行業控制權拱手讓給南韓人。
