Japan

08/01/1998

Japan

NEC Corp. has given the official go-ahead on its next fab in the US, a 300-mm plant in Roseville, CA, where the company plans to invest $1.4 billion over the next four years. The fab will use a 0.15-?m process, and produce 256-Mbit and 1-Gbit DRAMs, along with system-on-a-chip devices. Plans call for operations to begin in 2002 producing 20,000 wafers/month, but that timeframe is dependent on market conditions and 300-mm tool availability, a spokesperson said. The fab will be built adjacent to the company`s existing 709,000 ft2 fab in Roseville. Known as the G-Line, the new plant will be two stories and measure approximately 600,000 ft2, with a footprint of 430,000 ft2. NEC`s total investment in Roseville, once G-Line is completed, will be approximately $3 billion. The project is expected to create 700 jobs.

Fujitsu will slash its expenditures nearly 50% to 90 billion yen ($652.5 million) this fiscal year, compared to 175.3 billion yen last year. The company is facing its third consecutive year of chip-related losses despite having spent heavily on fab lines during that time. Sources indicate that original plans had called for a 130 billion yen capital budget, but with Fujitsu as a whole reporting profit of just 5.6 billion yen ($41 million), there was corporate pressure to scale back.