TOKYO, Feb 22 German Infineon Technologies' chipmaker unit Qimonda said on Thursday it wo

TOKYO, Feb 22 (Reuters) German Infineon Technologies' chipmaker unit Qimonda said on Thursday it would decide when and where to build a new chip plant in Asia later this year.

''We will need to decide this year since it takes 18 months to build a factory,'' Qimonda's Chief Executive Kin Wah Loh told a news conference. He said the new plant would be within its capital expenditure plan.

Qimonda plans capital expenditure of 900 million euros to 1 billion euros ($1.18 billion-$1.3 billion) for the business year ending September, a company spokesman said.

Qimonda, the world's third-biggest maker of dynamic random-access memory, is eyeing sales growth of graphic chips for game consoles for Nintendo Co. Ltd. and Sony Corp.

($1=.7616 Euro) REUTERS CS DB1127