SanDisk appoints Renesas/Trecenti exec as Japan biz head

August 3, 2006 – SanDisk Corp. has appointed Atsuyoshi Koike as president of SanDisk Ltd. KK, its wholly owned subsidiary in Japan, to focus on technology and fab operations at its flash wafer development and manufacturing facility in Yokkaichi, a JV with Toshiba. He also will oversee development of the JV’s 300mm Fab 4 facility, a 100,000 fab projected to come online in late 2007.

“Dr. Koike’s joining SanDisk to lead our Japan activities is a strong confirmation of SanDisk’s long-term commitment to return semiconductor manufacturing in Japan to a world-class leadership status in the coming years,” stated Randhir Thakur, SanDisk’s EVP of technology and worldwide operations.

Koike previously was a corporate chief engineer at Renesas Technology, and prior to that was president and CEO of 300mm wafer manufacturer Trecenti Technologies Inc., and held various management positions at Hitachi Ltd.’s semiconductor division over a 20-year span.

The Toshiba-SanDisk JV is currently ramping up its Fab 3 operation, expected to open late this year or early 2007, with full capacity projected to be 100,000 wafers/month, at a total cost of more than $8 billion for construction and tooling, according to George Burns, president of Strategic Marketing Associates. The JV also is finalizing location for its next site, Fab 5, projected to ramp to an additional 100,000 wafers/month capacity.

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