Atmel to use ASM Litho machines in North Tyneside
Sep 18 2000 12:49PM
LONDON, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Atmel Corp. , the U.S.
chip manufacturer, said on Monday it would put $800 million
worth of equipment in Britain's North Tyneside plant it had
bought from Germany's electronics company Siemens .
"We'll invest some $800 million in the next two and a half
to three years," said Finance Director Donald Colvin.
The company would use the money to buy steppers and etchers
for 0.18 and 0.25 micron technology.
Some machines were coming from other Atmel plants, but
Colvin said his company would also buy new equipment from
Netherlands-based ASM Lithography , which is
challenging Japan's Nikon <7731.T> for the title of the world's
largest semiconductor equipment company.
He did not want to say how large the orders would be, but
said they would not make a "huge difference" for ASM
Lithography.
ASM Lithography was not available for comment.
Atmel would use the plant, or "fab" as it is known in the
chip industry, to produce a wide range of products, from
non-volatile memory chips for smart cards and digital camera's
to chips for communications devices such as mobile phones.
Many of these chips belong to the fastest growing sectors in
the semiconductor industry, expanding by 50 percent or more
every year, said industry analyst Andrew Jamerson at Dresdner
Kleinwort Benson.
Siemens was making computer memory chips in the North
Tyneside plant, and had to close it in 1998 when prices for
these chips fell drastically in a production glut.
Prices for these so-called DRAM-chips have since recovered,
but demand is still growing at a much slower pace of of 15 to 18
percent a year.
(additional reporting from Philip Blenkinsop in Amsterdam) |
