February 2, 2007 – NXP Semiconductors (nee Philips Semiconductors) and Taiwan’s Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. (ASE) have agreed to form a joint venture in China to offer semiconductor testing and packaging for domestic and international markets across a range of semiconductors such as mobile communications, consumer electronics, and automotive products.
The ASE-majority-owned venture (60/40) will be housed at NXP’s existing manufacturing site in Suzhou, and will also utilize NXP’s Suzhou-based testing and packaging operation (though not affecting NXP’s other backend work in Asia and Europe). Operations are scheduled to begin in 2Q07.
Financial details were not disclosed about the JV, which is still pending approval from regular authorities and is “subject to final negotiations between NXP and ASE,” the companies said, in a statement.