Malaysia's 1st Silicon aims to have fab operational by Q4 2000
A service of Semiconductor Business News, CMP Media Inc.
Story posted 9 a.m. EST/6 a.m., PST, 7/16/99
By Mark LaPedus
Electronic Buyers' News
SAN FRANCISCO -- Continuing the race to bring up Malaysia's first large-scale wafer fab, silicon foundry hopeful 1st Silicon Sdn. Bhd. is moving into its next stage of development.
1st Silicon--which is building an 8-inch wafer-processing plant in Malaysia--plans to expand its workforce, established a U.S. sales office, and forge ties with some IP-chip houses in North America.
The company, a Kuching, Sarawak-based venture backed by the Malaysian government, is also buying its first capital-equipment for its fab, said Claudio Loddo, chief executive of 1st Silicon, in an interview at the Semicon West trade show in San Francisco this week.
"We're on schedule to build our fab,'' Loddo said. "We actually have space to build three fabs. If everything goes well, we could even have a 300-mm fab by 2002.''
At present, 1st Silicon is in the process of building its first fab, an 8-inch, 0.35- to 0.25-micron plant that is expected to move into product by the fourth quarter of next year.
Recently, it received a boost when it announced a technology alliance with Japan's Sharp Corp. Under the terms, Sharp will license its 0.25- to 0.18-micron technology to 1st Silicon.
Armed with a technology partner, 1st Silicon over the last year has expanded its workforce from 15 to 120 employees, most of whom are engineers, Loddo said. And by year's end, it hopes to set up a U.S. sales office in Silicon Valley, he added.
Loddo considers his main competitors to be the established foundries in Taiwan and Singapore, but 1st Silicon is also in a race against one company--Wafer Technology Sdn. Bhd.-- to build Malaysia's first fab.
Two months ago, Wafer Technology announced a technology licensing agreement with LSI Logic Corp. The Kulim-based foundry startup company is building an 8-inch plant in Malaysia, which will begin production in early-2001 While Wafer Technology's facility is under construction, the company is open for business: it is now taking orders for wafers from LSI Logic's own fabs (see May 19 story).
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