March 16, 2004 – The European Union has approved government aid from France and Portugal to be used to support Infineon Technologies AG and Altis Semiconductor, its JV with IBM, according to Dow Jones.
The French contribution to Altis, worth about 23.6 million euros ($29 million), will help set up an R&D center for memory chips used in computers, mobile communications, and smart cards.
Also, Portugal will give 41.5 million euros (about $51 million) in aid to Technicos-Fabrico de Semiconductores SA, a subsidiary of Infineon Technologies; last summer Portugal had sought to grant nearly twice that amount to help Infineon expand its DRAM test and assembly plant.