Intel cranks up cell phone chip production in Shanghai
By Bloomberg News
August 16, 2000, 10:30 a.m. PT
SHANGHAI--Chip giant Intel will begin a five-year expansion of a Shanghai chip-assembly plant to meet rising demand for semiconductors used in mobile phones and other electronic devices.
Intel plans to produce 226 million flash-memory chips annually in the plant by 2004, increasing capacity fivefold from last year's 85 million units, said spokeswoman Judy Wang in Shanghai. The chipmaker has budgeted $198 million for investment in the plant in Shanghai's Waigaoqiao export zone, she said.
"The ground-breaking ceremony on Phase 2 of the plant will be held this Friday," Wang said. "It shows Intel's commitment to our China investments."
Intel, along with multinational chipmakers such as Motorola and STMicroelectronics, established chip assembly and test operations in China during the last decade. Such investments have increased as China prepares to enter the World Trade Organization, which the U.S. Semiconductor Industry Association predicts will boost China's domestic and export markets for electronic goods.
Still, NEC of Japan is so far the only foreign company with a chip-fabrication plant making silicon wafers in China. Motorola expects to start production of chips from a factory based in the northern city of Tianjin sometime in the next two years.
Intel plans to employ up to 3,000 in its Shanghai plant by 2004, compared with the current 800 workers. The plant last year packaged $556 million worth of flash memory chips, which store software programs in cellular phones and digital audio players. |
