TOKYO – Amkor Technology announced a preliminary agreement to create a joint venture with Fujitsu. The deal has Amkor taking over Fujitsu's assembly facility in Kagoshima. The joint venture will last for three years, and then Amkor will buy out the rest of the operation.

According to Amkor and Fujitsu, the 2001 packaging revenue at the facility was about $100 million. The products manufactured there include the stacked multi-chip packages that Fujitsu has been promoting. A recent announcement from Fujitsu highlighted an eight-chip product in the stacked package.

The agreement with Fujitsu follows other recent deals by Amkor with Toshiba and Citizen Watch, all of which increase Amkor's presence in Japan. John Boruch, Amkor's president, said that this new agreement with Fujitsu is “further evidence that the Japan semiconductor industry continues to move toward an outsourcing model.”