Interconnect was real, but folded last year about this time when the management walked out en masse in a "funding dispute" so I read. They were the same gentlemen that first started TSMC in Taiwan and went on to found Chartered in Singapore. Interconnect was to be their Malaysian reprise. A Stateside based individual, of whom I'm more familiar with, has gone on to participate in a European based foundry startup. I guess these guys are the Johnny Appleseeds of silicon foundrys.
So I suppose there are some real assets left over from the Interconnect deal. But in case they are starting from scratch, it takes upwards from 1 - 1.2 billion US to establish a worldclass 200mm wafer fab say 30,000 wafers per month, and that doesn't include things like reliable clean power, a good quality DI water supply, easy access to international airshipping, a covey of captive chem engineers, a reasonable network to the world and a sales and technical staff in the country where one's customers are going to be located, and oh yes, customers in search of additional fab capacity.
I shall await further announcements with anticipation, not holding my breath though. |
