Amkor and Grace form semiconductor manufacturing alliance in China
Edited by Joe Wadsworth
Editor Semiconductor Fabtech
Thursday, March 14, 2002
Amkor Technology, Inc. and Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (GSMC) have signed a Letter of Intent to form a multi-purpose alliance offerings total supply chain solutions for customers in the rapidly growing microelectronics market in China.
On the "front end" of the alliance, Amkor will become GSMC's customer, with GSMC providing wafer services to Amkor, who will in turn assist GSMC in developing customers for its foundry. In addition, Amkor will provide GSMC with the entire spectrum of sales, marketing, planning, logistics and IT services in support of its wafer fabrication business. On the "back end" of the alliance, Amkor will offer turnkey assembly and test solutions for GSMC customers through Amkor's factory in Shanghai and potentially other Amkor locations throughout Asia. Through the adoption of technologies from strategic partners in Japan and the US, GSMC will produce the equivalent of 50,000 eight-inch wafers a month at 0.25 um, 0.18 um and more advanced technology as its first plant reaches full capacity. The investment for the first fab is expected to total roughly US$1.6 Billion.
"We view this strategic alliance as an important step in the development of China's microelectronics industry, as it brings together a key player in China's emerging wafer foundry industry and the world's leading provider of contract microelectronics assembly and test solutions," said Eric Larson, Amkor's Executive Vice President. "This developing relationship will utilize GSMC's manufacturing and technical expertise, together with Amkor's leadership in packaging, test & foundry services, and will benefit from our two organization's solid base of business contacts in Asian marketplace.
"Since establishing our newest factory in Shanghai last year, we have seen tremendous customer interest in accessing the local China market for developing supply chain solutions based on China content. As a result, we are already increasing our footprint in China through a four-fold expansion of our clean room in Pudong, Shanghai, and we are evaluating plans to develop a one million square foot facility to accommodate our long-term growth. We believe that in order for the Chinese microelectronics industry to realize its huge growth potential, companies such as GSMC and Amkor China will need to take a leadership role, and we are delighted to join forces with GSMC in this effort," said Larson.
Dr. Nasa Tsai, President & COO of GSMC, said, "The alliance between Amkor and GSMC is not only a win-win solution to both companies; it creates a new model as well, which can be extremely beneficial to the customers of our two companies. As our industry matures, every segment of the industry's infrastructure develops its specialization. Therefore, our strategy is to optimize the efficiency of ``pure play' foundry while establishing horizontal and vertical alliances with strategic partners like Amkor. I believe this kind of new model will position both GSMC and Amkor to best utilize their resources, and maximize the benefit to our customers." |
