Plans for multibillion dollar wafer plant unveiled in Singapore
SINGAPORE -- A Taiwanese computer chipmaker will build a $3.6 billion plant to manufacture wafers used to make the microchips that run mobile phones, computers and cameras.
United Microelectronics Corp. will form a new company with German chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG to build one, and possibly a second, wafer plant in the wealthy city-state.
The plant will make 12-inch wafers, which global companies are increasingly using in their race to build the fastest and smallest computer chips.
UMC Group Chairman Robert Tsao said at a news conference Friday that he believes the new plant will help the company set ``industry standards'' using new technology.
The multibillion dollar deal is the largest in the history of Singapore's semiconductor industry and a blow to Taiwan, which has been trying to keep its world-leading microchip makers at home.
Amid a global oversupply and slowing demand for computers and semiconductors, Tsao said he expected sales of those items in the first quarter to drop by between 10 percent to 15 percent.
But he said he was optimistic that demand would recover and that the company will be able to work its plants to capacity.
The new wafer plant will be capable of producing up to 40,000 wafers per month when fully operational and will employ up to 1,700 workers, said Chris Chi, a senior vice president with UMC.
The wafers, which are larger than the eight-inch wafers now produced in Singapore, can hold more memory and integrated circuits, reducing computer-chip size and cutting production costs. |
