News Article
Infineon to invest £1 billion in Malaysian fab
German chip maker Infineon Technologies AG has announced plans to build a new $1 billion front-end production plant in Kulim High Tech Park, Malaysia.
German chip maker Infineon Technologies AG has announced plans to build a new $1 billion front-end production plant in Kulim High Tech Park, Malaysia.
The facility will mainly produce power and logic chips for automotive and industrial power applications. Groundbreaking is planned for early 2005, with ramp-up scheduled for 2006. At full capacity, the fab will employ around 1,700 people.
Infineon president and chief executive officer Dr Wolfgang Ziebart said that the development would strengthen the companys position in the Asian automotive and industrial power markets.
"With this move, we are systematically expanding our presence in the future market of Asia. Our continuous investment in Asia also reduces our market risk concerning fluctuations of the US dollar-to-euro exchange rate."
Infineon is one of the worlds leading manufacturers of automotive and industrial chips, with production plants for such products in Munich-Perlach, Regensburg, Villach and Dresden. It is also joint owner with IBM of Altis Semiconductors, a French based company that specialises in this area.
With the new plant, Infineon aims to take advantage of the strong growth expected in the vehicle chip market.
The worldwide automotive semiconductor market is expected grow by ten per cent annually over the next few years, as car makers seek to improve reliability, security, power reduction and emission control using electronics.
According to market analyst Strategy Analytics, the automotive semiconductor market grew 14.1 per cent during 2003 to $13.3 billion.
Infineon is the European leader in the sector, with a 15% market share. Worldwide, the company ranks as number two with a market share of 8.7% in 2003 – up 21.2% on the previous year.
The facility will mainly produce power and logic chips for automotive and industrial power applications. Groundbreaking is planned for early 2005, with ramp-up scheduled for 2006. At full capacity, the fab will employ around 1,700 people.
Infineon president and chief executive officer Dr Wolfgang Ziebart said that the development would strengthen the companys position in the Asian automotive and industrial power markets.
"With this move, we are systematically expanding our presence in the future market of Asia. Our continuous investment in Asia also reduces our market risk concerning fluctuations of the US dollar-to-euro exchange rate."
Infineon is one of the worlds leading manufacturers of automotive and industrial chips, with production plants for such products in Munich-Perlach, Regensburg, Villach and Dresden. It is also joint owner with IBM of Altis Semiconductors, a French based company that specialises in this area.
With the new plant, Infineon aims to take advantage of the strong growth expected in the vehicle chip market.
The worldwide automotive semiconductor market is expected grow by ten per cent annually over the next few years, as car makers seek to improve reliability, security, power reduction and emission control using electronics.
According to market analyst Strategy Analytics, the automotive semiconductor market grew 14.1 per cent during 2003 to $13.3 billion.
Infineon is the European leader in the sector, with a 15% market share. Worldwide, the company ranks as number two with a market share of 8.7% in 2003 – up 21.2% on the previous year.
