Asia/Pacific

12/01/1997

Asia/Pacific

Taiwan chipmaker Mosel Vitelic has begun work on its NT$200 billion ($6.9 billion) plan to build two 300-mm fabs and four packaging/testing facilities in the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park. Mosel has established a joint venture agreement with Siliconware Precision Co. to build the packaging and test facilities. The entire project, which includes plans to build R&D facilities and dormitories, is expected to take seven years to complete. Together, the new fabs are expected to have capacity of 40,000, 300-mm wafers/month, and initial production will be dedicated to 64- and 256-Mbit DRAMs.

NEC is planning to invest roughly $197 million in a new test/assembly plant in Singapore. NEC Semiconductors Singapore Ltd. expects to finish construction on the new Singapore facility by December 1998. Once the new plant is completed, the company expects to hire about 600 additional staff, and more than double total production volume by 2000. Currently, the facility has a production volume of >6 million units/month. The plant will be dedicated to the test and assembly of 64- and 256-Mbit DRAMs, ASICs, and other products.

Separately, NEC Semiconductors (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. has expanded its test/assembly facility in Selangor, Malaysia. In all, the company spent 100 million ringgits ($33.3 million) on the expansion project, which began in May 1996. With the expanded line, the facility has increased production volume from 1 million to 3 million units/month, or about 25% of NEC Corp.`s total monthly output.

Samsung Electronics Co. has commissioned Japan`s 300-mm development consortium, Semiconductor Leading Edge Technologies Inc. (Selete), to evaluate 300-mm wafer production tools. Under the agreement, Samsung will pay about 2 billion yen ($16.6 million) for the consortium to test its 300-mm wafer processing equipment. Selete is expected to evaluate 120 tools for Samsung by March 2000. The move makes the South Korean chipmaker the first foreign firm to request the tool evaluation from Selete. Samsung is already a member of the International 300-mm Initiative (I300I), led by SEMATECH in Austin, TX.

South Korea`s three DRAM suppliers may have a new competitor to contend with in the next few years as the Dongbu Group makes inroads into the DRAM business. Dongbu has established a new unit, Dongbu Electronics Co. Ltd., and is preparing to manufacture 256-Mbit DRAMs in South Korea by 1999. The business group is reportedly negotiating with IBM to reach a process transfer deal, and is already recruiting engineers from LG Semicon, Hyundai, and Samsung.

Under two separate projects, Atmel Corp. and VLSI Technology, San Jose, CA, are working with Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the Malaysian government`s investment arm, to open fabs in Malaysia within the next few years. Atmel and Khazanah have formed a new joint-venture company and will build an $850 million, 200-mm fab next year in Malaysia`s Kulim High Technology Park, located north of Kuala Lumpur. Meanwhile, VLSI Technology has signed a memorandum of understanding with the same investment arm to become a technology partner in the fledgling Wafer Technology Malaysia (WTM) project in Kuala Lumpur.

Philips Semiconductors, Sunnyvale, CA, will begin construction of a new test and assembly plant in Calamba, Philippines. The first phase of construction is estimated at $200 million and will be completed in 1Q99. The second phase, with similar estimated costs, will begin about one year later. Philips Semiconductors plans to employ about 2000 people when the plant is fully operational.