Alliances
AUECC is moving forward with plans to supply wet process chemicals to the electronics manufacturing industry in China and has formed an equity joint venture with Shanghai Huayi (Group) company. The new venture is called Shanghai Huayi Microelectronic Material.
Through the new UPC Technology-BOC Edwards joint venture, AUECC will use Shanghai as a base to produce, package and distribute a full range of ultra high-purity process chemicals for the semiconductor and flat panel display industries.
A new plant, backed by an initial investment that is expected to exceed RMB170mn ($20mn) is in the final design phase, with production due mid-2005.
"Our customers in China are currently relying on imported high-purity grade process chemicals," comments Neels Kriek, managing director of materials and services for BOC Edwards. "With the completion of this facility, and backed by the experience and reputation of the parent companies, manufacturers can reduce their dependence on imports and rely on local supply."
Toshiba will manufacture Xilinx' high-performance field programmable gate array (FPGA) products under a strategic foundry relationship. Together, the companies have already successfully output functional 90nm first silicon at Toshiba's 300mm wafer manufacturing plant at Oita, Japan. Toshiba will start volume manufacturing in Q1 2005. Toshiba and Xilinx delivered separate 90nm products in 2003.
As part of the manufacturing agreement, Xilinx will make advance payments to Toshiba, which will be offset against future wafer purchases. The amounts involved are not viewed as material to Xilinx. Success in the present agreement is expected to point the way to continued co-operation between Toshiba and Xilinx in next-generation 65nm manufacturing process technology.
Xilinx says that it remains committed to a multi-source manufacturing strategy. The fabless company has also reported 90nm products from UMC (Bulletin 536, June 14, 2004). IBM has also produced chips for Xilinx since 2002 (Bulletin 423, March 11, 2002).
Toshiba expects to be one of the first semiconductor facilities in the world to deploy 65nm process and design technologies. The companies believe that Xilinx FPGAs are ideally suited to prove and test advanced manufacturing processes, due to their regular structure and re-programmability. Defects can be more easily identified and isolated during manufacturing than with traditional, fixed semiconductor device architectures.
Chinese foundry Jilin Sino-Microelectronics (JSMC) will manufacture selected Fairchild Semiconductor MOSFET and bipolar power products under a five-year foundry agreement. JSMC has recently completed a wafer fab in Jilin City.
Jilin Sino-Microelectronics will provide capacity for Fairchild's more mature power products. Fairchild has a strategy to increase its in-house manufacturing of top-line power products.
Fairchild recently announced the expansion of its plant in Mountaintop, Pennsylvania, dedicated to power components. Production is ramping at a new Fairchild assembly and test facility in Suzhou, China.
