|
Qimonda selects Singapore for next 300mm fab |
|
|
|
Apr 26, 2007 at 11:44 AM |
 With its Richmond Virginia 300mm fab expanding to full capacity, Qimonda has announced that its next 300mm facility will be built in Singapore at a cost of approximately $2.7 billion. Groundbreaking is expected by year-end with volume production starting in early 2009. This will be Qimonda's third wholly owned 300mm fab and its first in Asia.
"Our investment in Singapore is a major step to expand our regional presence in the Asian market. We are addressing several strategic objectives at once," said Kin Wah Loh, President and CEO of Qimonda. "We are responding to the fast growing DRAM market and are moving closer to our customers in Asia. In addition, we can benefit from local competitive cost structures and manufacturing know-how and finally further reduce our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations compared to the US Dollar. With this investment we are using our financial strength and entrepreneurial flexibility to enable us to capture opportunities in this rapidly developing market whenever they arise."
Qimonda said that the new 300mm fab will have a capacity of 60,000wspm and a cleanroom size of 20,000sqm. The cost of building will be met from current cash reserves while tool costs will be need to be financed, which is expected to cover a 5 year period.
"With the new fab we put ourselves in the position to fully benefit from our technological expertise, to drive our product roll-out more rapidly and to leverage economies of scale in Asia," said Kin Wah Loh. "In Singapore, we have found excellent conditions. The overall package of low taxation, incentives and factors such as highly skilled labor and strong infrastructure makes Singapore our place of choice to implement our fully-owned volume production in the Asian market."
The new fab is expected to employ approximately 1,500 people when fully utilized. Qimonda has two wholly-owned 300mm fabs located in Dresden, Germany and Richmond, Virginia. It also has a JV 300mm fab in Taiwan, Inotera Fab 1 and several 300mm fab foundry agreements that include SMIC in China.
|
