July 14, 2006 – Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Siltronic AG have finalized plans to build a $1 billion, 300mm wafer fab in Singapore, with peak output of 300,000 wafers/month by 2010. The partnership, announced earlier this year, represents “a first” for the industry, with a wafer supplier partnering with a major chipmaker in such a venture, noted Siltronic CEO Wilhelm Sittenthaler.

Both parties will contribute equal amounts of equity into the JV, dubbed Siltronic Samsung Wafer Pte. Ltd., which will be built alongside Siltronic’s existing site. Construction is slated to begin next month, with production starting in mid-2008, and maximum capacity of 300,000 wafers/month achieved by 2010. Siltronic parent group Wacker Chemie AG will supply hyperpure polycrystalline silicon to the JV.

“This will be Singapore’s first ingot-pulling and 300mm substrate fab and is a key addition to our semiconductor industry,” stated Teo Ming Kian, Chairman of Singapore Economic Development Board, noting that the project represents Siltronic’s most significant expansion to date, and is Samsung’s first manufacturing investment in Singapore.

Late last year Siltronic announced plans to expand 300mm production capacity at its facilities in Germany, by nearly doubling output from its Burghausen site, and increasing capacity by 33% at its Freiberg operations, to a combined total of roughly 335,000 wafers/month.