Infineon to close 150mm Munich Perlach plant
Production currently being undertaken at Munich Perlach will be transferred to the company’s facilities at Regensburg and to a lesser extent Villach.
Infineon said in a press release that it had taken the decision because the products currently manufactured at its Munich Perlach plant could be produced more efficiently at the company’s newer fabs.
The Munich Perlach plant was founded 20 years ago as a research facility and now manufactures specialist semiconductors, largely highfrequency products. These devices however are increasingly being integrated into CMOS chips, which cannot be manufactured in Perlach.
The plant also operates on the older 150mm silicon wafers, making it uneconomical compared to the company’s newer 200mm and 300mm fabs.
"As the manufacturing standard for logic products corresponds to 200mm wafer, the cost disadvantage of the 150mm manufacturing vis-a-vis the 200mm manufacturing is considerable and will continue to increase," said a company spokesman.
"With the transfer of the remaining technologies to Regensburg and Villach, the manufacturing will largely be shifted to 200mm."
The company has not said how many – if any – jobs will be lost as a result of the restructuring but promised to "look into the possibility of further employment within the company" for affected workers.
"The restructuring will be done in a manner that is as socially acceptable as possible," said the spokesman.
"Supportive personnel measures for the remaining time of production and the phase-out are being discussed with the relevant works council. "
