Hitachi to cut 1,400 more jobs in chip operations, plans to revamp fab in Singapore
Semiconductor Business News
(10/19/01 12:15 p.m. EST)
TOKYO -- Japan's Hitachi Ltd. here today announced additional cutbacks in its troubled semiconductor group, including plans to slash 1,400 more jobs and revamp its chip operations in Singapore.
Hitachi also plans to reduce the "fixed costs" within its chip manufacturing, assembly, and test operations by some 25%. By September of 2002, the company will cut its "front-end" fab lines from 19 to 12 and its "back-end" lines from 13 to 8.
The moves--described by the company as "emergency management measures"--are aimed to bring Hitachi's chip operations back into the black by fiscal 2002. Hitachi's fiscal 2002 ends March of 2003.
It also represents the latest cutbacks at Hitachi. In August, the Tokyo-based company outlined massive cutbacks in its businesses, including the elimination of 14,700 jobs worldwide--about 4% of its workforce--and restructuring of its trouble IC division (see Aug. 31 story ).
The company's Electronic Devices group--which includes semiconductors and displays--is now expected to post an operating loss of 124 billion yen ($1.03 billion) in the currentfiscal year, compared to an operating profit of 118.1 billion yen ($98.4 million) in the last fiscal year, ended March 31.
In today's announcement, Hitachi said its will cut 1,100 more jobs within its chip operations in Japan by fiscal 2002. In total, the company plans to cut 3,100 jobs in its domestic chip operations, up from its target of 2,000 in the sector.
It also plans to cut 300 of its 1,300 employees within its chip manufacturing operations in Singapore. That operation is called Hitachi Nippon Steel Semiconductor Singapore Pte. Ltd. (HNS), which is a joint venture between Hitachi and Nippon Steel.
The company will cut DRAM production at HNS in Singapore. Previously, HNS exclusively built DRAMs for Elpida Memory Inc., a joint memory venture between Hitachi and Japan's NEC Corp.
Now, however, HNS has started trial production of non-commodity products, SRAMs, flash memories, microcontrollers, and RISC processors. These products will move into volume production within HNS in the first half of fiscal 2002.
On the "front-end" chip manufacturing front, the company appears to be shifting the bulk of its production to three major fabs: Trecenti Technologies Inc. (TTI), the N2 line in Naka, and HNS. But it is also cutting production in older chip lines in Kofu, Takasaki, Naka, among other sites, the company said.
Hitachi will also shift some of its chip production to N2 in Naka and TTI, a joint 300-mm foundry venture with Taiwan's United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC). Starting in October of 2001, TTI will begin producing Hitachi's RISC processors, microcontrollers, flash memories, SRAMs and other products. |
