February 8, 2005 – Nine global semiconductor companies, representing 500,000 200mm-equivalent wafers/month and $7 billion in combined annual revenues, have formed the Fab Owners Association (FOA) to identify problems and potential solutions for common manufacturing issues.

Participants include AMI Semiconductor, Cypress Semiconductor, Delphi Electronics, Fairchild Semiconductor, Intersil, LSI Logic, Micrel Semiconductor, ON Semiconductor, and ZME AG.

Areas of interest include promoting cooperative efforts among members to solve common manufacturing problems; improving efficiencies, including combining purchasing requirements; and publishing statistics related to semiconductor and MEMS manufacturing.

The FOA, which concluded its third quarterly meeting last month, aims to “provide a forum to maximize our nonproprietary technologies, combine our resources and requirements to become more competitive,” according to Gunter Ziegenbalg, EVP at ZMD AG and managing association director.