January 15, 2004 – Singapore-based wafer manufacturer Systems on Silicon Manufacturing (SSMC), a government-sponsored JV between Philips Semiconductors and TSMC, plans to spend $250 million in 2004 to expand capacity of 200mm wafers to 33,000 per month, higher than its original plans of 30,000 wafers/month.
The funds will be used primarily for equipment purchases; other infrastructure upgrades will allow the company to eventually expand to 40,000 wafers/month. SSMC, which expects to move to 140nm technology this year, is currently running at 95%-100% capacity with output of 24,000/month.