A couple of articles to remind everyone that the demand for equipment is STILL STRONG!
VLSI commits $120 million to Malaysian
fab
By Gabrielle Jonas
Electronic Buyers' News
SAN JOSE-- VLSI Technology Inc. here today said it will invest in
building a submicron semiconductor fab with Wafer Technology
(Malaysia) Sendiran Berhad (WTM), a consortium of Malaysian and
foreign investors organized under the sponsorship of Malaysian
government agencies.
As part of the agreement, WTM will take ownership, manage and upgrade
VLSI's San Jose fab, operating it as a semiconductor process
development and prototyping line, thereby providing WTM with an
immediate base of operations in the Silicon Valley. VLSI will act as
WTM's technology advisor on both the San Jose and Malaysia
manufacturing lines.
"The cooperation between WTM and VLSI in the San Jose fab is
significant for WTM because it will allow Malaysia to enter the
sophisticated arena of semiconductor wafer fabrication," said Saleh
Ghazali, chairman of WTM. "This will be a natural expansion from the
country's current position as a leading supplier of IC assembly and test
services to the worldwide semiconductor industry."
Under the terms of the agreement, VLSI will invest $120 million for an
equity interest in the fab to be constructed in the new Kulim High-Tech
Park in the Malaysian state of Kheda.
Total capital expenditure for the new WTM facility is estimated at $1.2
billion, at current prices for land, construction, equipment and other
expenses. The fab will process wafers with 0.25-micron and smaller
geometries on 8-inch wafers and is expected to begin operations in 2000.
When completed, the fab will have the capability to process approximately
27,000 wafers per month, VLSI said. VLSI will have rights to a significant
percentage of the wafer production of the new fab.
"The WTM project has all the key ingredients for success: a government
infrastructure support program, combined private and public funding, and a
leading-edge technology partner in VLSI," said Cy Hannon, WTM
president and chief executive. "This combination will ensure a fast ramp to
world-class production level of 27,000 wafers per month and provide
access to proven 0.25- micron and smaller feature-size processes."
Investment partners in the WTM fab project include Bank Industri
Malaysia Berhad and Khazana Nasional Berhad (the National Treasury
investment arm of Malaysia). Both organizations are fully-owned
Malaysian government agencies chartered with the development of the
country's industrial sector, particularly high-tech industries.
The new fab in Malaysia will supplement VLSI's manufacturing operations
at its main existing deep submicron fab in San Antonio. The wholly-owned
VLSI fab is currently converting from 6 to 8 inch wafers and qualifying
0.25-micron technology.
UICC struggles to find capacity
following this month's fab fire
By Sandy Chen
HSINCHU, TAIWAN -- After being hit with a major fire in its new 8-inch
wafer fab earlier this month, Taiwan's United Integrated Circuits Corp.
(UICC) is scrambling to find foundry capacity for its customers.
After the Oct. 3 blaze--which caused $416 million worth of damage to
UICC's plant and fab equipment (see Oct. 8 story)--the Hsinchu-based
foundry had hoped to shift some of its customers to DRAM start-up Nan
Ya Technology Corp., based in Taoyuan, Taiwan. But now, UICC has
decided to move customers to another local chip maker, Holtek
Microelectronics Inc.
UICC's agreement with Nan Ya was scrapped because for competitive
reasons--both Nan Ya and UICC's key investor, United Microelectronics
Corp. (UMC), make DRAMs, said C.Y. Sha, president of UICC. In
addition to UMC, UICC is owned by seven North American chip
companies: ATI Technologies, ESS Technology, Integrated Silicon
Solution, Lattice Semiconductor, Oak Technology, Opti, and Trident
Microsystems. UICC's damaged fab is expected to be out of operations
for about one year.
UICC has moves some of its foundry customers to UMC's own 8-inch
fabs. Under terms of its deal with Holtek, UICC will have 10,000 wafers
per month processed for foundry customers. |
