Hitachi, UMC pick 'Trecenti' as name for 300-mm venture in Japan
Semiconductor Business News
(03/21/00, 09:56:39 AM EDT)
TOKYO--Hitachi Ltd. and United Microelectronics Corp. today christened their announced joint venture in 300-mm wafer processing as "Trecenti Technologies Inc." The venture is scheduled to set up operations in Hitachi's LSI Manufacturing Operation N3 building, located in Hitachinaka, Japan, and formally begin functioning on March 15.
At the end of December, Hitachi and Taiwan's UMC announced the 300-mm joint venture, which was unnamed but scheduled to begin pilot production with 12-inch wafers in January 2001 (see Dec. 27 story). The two companies plan to initially invest 70 billion yen ($670 million) for Trecenti Technologies' initial fab capacity, which is set to reach 7,000 wafers a month in the second half of 2001.
Trecenti will employ about 450 workers when its fab is in full production in the second half of 2001. The joint venture is 60% owned by Hitachi and 40% by UMC. The initial capital investment in the venture will be 30 million yen by the end of December, said the two partners.
"Our team is extremely confident of its ability to quickly bring the 300-mm wafer facility to volume production, due to the combined expertise of UMC and Hitachi," said Toshio Nohara, president of Trecenti Technologies. "The company name 'Trecenti' comes from the Latin word 'trecenti,' which means 'three hundred' (300). This clearly reflects our commitment to become a pioneer of 300-mm wafer manufacturing technology.
"Trecenti Technologies will respond to the growing needs of our customers with quick turn-around-times and cost-effective manufacturing," he added.
UMC, the partnership will enable it to offer silicon foundry customers 300-mm capacity in a short period of time, said H. J. Wu, general manager of the Hsinchu, Taiwan-based company. "Clearly, Trecenti will benefit from the synergies created by the alliance of Hitachi and UMC, and we expect to set the standard for 300-mm wafer manufacturing performance in the global semiconductor industry," he said. |
