Sanyo Semiconductor (Thailand) Co. Ltd has announced that it will close down its factory at Rojana Industrial Park in Ayutthaya, Thailand after flooding caused extensive damage to its operations.

Yamakawa Tetsuzo, president of the company, announced the close-down.

According to Tetsuzo, the prolonged flooding at Rojana Industrial Park caused so much damage to the company's machinery and buildings that the cost of renovations would be too high to bear.

Flooding in Thailand, where some of the world's major producers of computer parts are situated, has also had an impact on the global supply chain and caused a slow-down in the semiconductor business.

The company thus decided to stop its operation in Thailand. All employees will be laid off and properly compensated, Tetsuzo added.

Sanyo Semiconductor was established in 1990. It employed more than 2,000 people, most of them daily wage earners and sub-contractors.

Toshiba Construction of Fab 5 at Yokkaichi

Toshiba Corporation has started construction of a fabrication facility (fab), Fab 5, at Yokkaichi Operations, its memory production facility in Mie Prefecture.

Japan’s largest manufacturer of computer chips has formed a new partnership with SanDisk Corporation of California, the world’s largest supplier of flash memory data storage products, to operate the facility.

Toshiba said the construction of Fab 5 reflects expectations for increasing demand for NAND flash memory for existing and emerging applications, such as smartphones and solid-state drives. Adding new production capacity will ensure that Toshiba and SanDisk are able to respond quickly to market growth.

The fab building will be constructed in two phases, with construction work scheduled for completion in Spring 2012. On completion of its second phase, Fab 5 will be comparable to Fab 4, with a ground area of some 38,000m2 (408,880 sq. ft.).

“Constructing the new facility assures our ability to respond to continued strong demand in the NAND flash memory market,” said Kiyoshi Kobayashi, corporate senior vice president of Toshiba Corporation.

“With our partner SanDisk, we will increase the manufacturing capacity gradually in accordance with market conditions, in a way that further enhances our competitiveness in the memory business.”

Dr Eli Harari, chairman and chief executive of SanDisk, added: “Today's agreement builds on a successful ten-year partnership with Toshiba that has led to the development of eight generations of industry leading multi-level cell NAND flash memory.

“Customer demand for flash memory continues to grow rapidly, and our investment in Fab 5 will provide us highly cost-effective supply, while giving us the flexibility to tailor the rate of capacity expansion to match our demand requirements.”

Fab 5 will have an earthquake-absorbing structure and make a minimal impact on the environment. LED lighting throughout the facility, energy saving manufacturing equipment, and use of inverter-controlled pumps for semiconductor production equipment are expected to cut CO2 emissions to a level 12% lower than for Fab 4.

Yokkaichi Operations currently have four NAND flash memory fabs. Toshiba and SanDisk are currently ramping into the unused cleanroom space in Fab 4, and expect to reach full capacity of Fab 4 by the start of production in Fab 5.

Toshiba to Shutdown Three Fabs

Toshiba Corp. is planning to close three of its manufacturing facilities and consolidate much of its discrete, analog and imaging IC production into three others. The shutdown is due mainly to the decline in demand for consumer products in the western hemisphere. The company is also cutting down production at some of its semiconductor facilities, including one making ASICs and MCUs, from now until early January 2012.

Toshiba said the slowdown was notably in demand for PCs and TVs in Europe and the United States.

As a result, in the first half of its 2012 fiscal year Toshiba plans to close wafer fabs used for optical components in Kitakyushu and Hamaoka as well as an assembly plant used for power semiconductors at Mobara. The company added that regular employees at the affected facilities will, in principle, be redeployed within Toshiba Group.

Toshiba did not disclose how many permanent and contract staff would be affected by the closures.

The re-organization will concentrate manufacturing at three major facilities: Hijimeji Operations Semiconductor (Ibo-gun, Hyogo prefecture); Kaga Toshiba Electronics Corp. (Nomi, Ishikawa prefecture); and Buzen Toshiba Electronics Corporation (Buzen, Fukuoka prefecture).

After the re-organization Hijimeji Operations Semiconductor will be a development center for power semiconductors and small signal devices, Toshiba said.

Kaga Toshiba Electronics will be a main location for power semiconductor front-end process and will increase the 200-mm wafer manufacturing capacity of its 200-mm and expand production to include optical semiconductor manufacturing. Buzen Toshiba will become a development center for the assembly and packaging of optical semiconductors but with production limited to certain products while the rest is outsourced, Toshiba said.

The production slowdown will affect six facilities in all: Oita operations, which produces analog semiconductors and image sensors; Himeji Operations Semiconductor, which produces discrete semiconductors; and Kitakyushu Operations, which produces optical semiconductor devices; Iwate Toshiba Electronics, which produces ASICs and MCUs; and Kaga Toshiba Electronics and Hamaoka Toshiba electronics, which both produce discrete semiconductors.

Oita will have a 6-day shutdown around the end of the year as well as running at reduced levels. Himeji and Kitakyushu would both be put on a two-week shutdown, Toshiba said.

Toshiba said it would re-assess required production levels early in 2012.

Samsung Begins Operation of Austin Plant

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's second-biggest semiconductor maker, said Tuesday it has begun full production at its new Austin semiconductor plant earlier than planned, at a time when demand for smartphones and tablet PCs is booming.

The company's new plant in Austin, Texas, reached its target capacity of 40,000 wafers per month in October, a month prior to its initial target, Samsung said in a statement.

Samsung produced the first silicon wafer in May on the S2 line in Austin, an automated plant manufacturing logic chips, which include application processors for smartphones and tablet PCs. The company has invested more than US$ 9 billion in the Austin facility.

Samsung, which only trails Intel Corp. in the global semiconductor market, has increased efforts to expand its capacity outside of its mainstay memory chip business.

Jenoptik AG Expands High-Tech Plant in Berlin

The investment for the expansion, including new cleanroom technology and production equipment, is in the total sum of approx. €10 million. This will more than double the production capacities for 2013.

Jenoptik laid the foundation stone for the expansion of the semiconductor production in a ceremony attended by around 80 invited guests, including representatives from business, the world of politics and industry as well as the Jenoptik workforce at the Berlin-Adlershof site.

"Germany is and remains a location for high-tech manufacturing even though we in the Jenoptik Group are currently pushing forward the process of internationalization in Asia and North America", said Jenoptik Chairman Dr. Michael Mertin at the ceremony to celebrate the laying of the foundation stone. He emphasized the need for investment primarily in the technology-intensive field. "Our local industry knows how to position itself as a supplier of high-tech to the world", said Michael Mertin.

The existing production facility in Berlin has reached the limits of its capacity and is being expanded as a result of the high level of customer satisfaction and rapidly increasing demand, particularly from Asia, for future projects as well as for the advancing process of internationalization by the Lasers & Material Processing division.

The new building will more than double the production capacities. The expansion will increase the gross floor area by around 1,400 sq. m. (15,064 sq. ft.) to around 3,400 sq m (36,584 sq. ft.). The production area, including cleanroom area, will increase from a total of 540 sq. m. (5,810 sq. ft.) to 930 sq. m. (10,007 sq. ft.) and is expected to be available to production from 2013.

The manufacturing facility will be automated and equipped with state-of-the-art production technology. Gallium-arsenide wafers (GaAs) will be structured and processed to create high-power laser bars in a typical semiconductor manufacturing process. The various work areas will be fitted out with cleanroom facilities in the categories of between 100 and 1,000 particles per cubic meter - depending upon the requirements of the process step. The complete process line from epitaxy, wafer processing and facet coating through to the manufacture of GaAs components will be installed in the cleanrooms.

A total of around €10 million will be invested in the extension. The financing of the building will be provided by the Hoesch Dortmund pension fund, the internal fittings (incl. clean rooms) as well as the production equipment will come from Jenoptik. Including the existing production facility, the total amount of the investment at the Jenoptik Berlin-Adlershof site will then come to approx. 24 million Euros.

The laser bars from the production facility at Berlin-Adlershof will be sent to customers all over the world and will be processed to create high-power diode lasers at Jenoptik in Jena. This is a field in which Jenoptik is considered one of the leading suppliers and an acknowledged world leader in quality. The group has the entire technology chain at its disposal - from the manufacture of high-power diode lasers, the most energy-efficient of all types of lasers, through to laser processing systems for material processing.

Jenoptik has had its own production facility in Berlin-Adlershof since 2006. The optoelectronic base material and its efficient manufacture are developed by Jenoptik in close cooperation with the locally based Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, Leibniz-Institut for Ultra High Frequency Technology (FBH).

Milestones in the extension :

Groundbreaking ceremony: 05.12.2011
Laying of foundation stone: 12.12.2011
Topping-out ceremony: 05.03.2012
Handover: Summer 2012
General contractor: YIT Germany GmbH, Stuttgart

Superconductor Technologies to Relocate to Austin, TX

Superconductor Technologies Inc., a world leader in the development and production of high temperature superconducting (HTS) materials and associated technologies, will relocate its corporate headquarters to a new facility in Austin, TX. This state of the art facility will also be the home of STI's Conductus^® superconducting wire manufacturing center of excellence. STI will continue to maintain an R&D and wireless operations presence in Santa Barbara, CA.

"STI was founded in Santa Barbara in 1987 and successfully built an innovative and world class technology team in southern California," said Jeff Quiram, STI's president and chief executive officer. "Although Santa Barbara has been a great home to STI, and we have benefitted from its scientific talent and entrepreneurial spirit, the execution on our strategic initiative to become a leader in the superconducting wire industry recently reached the inflection point where it was time to make a move. After considering the technical talent pools, facilities, and energy costs in a number of states, we determined that Austin was the best location for our Conductus superconducting wire center of excellence. We decided to co-locate our corporate headquarters with the superconducting wire operation since we expect this initiative to be STI's primary business going forward. We believe Austin is an ideal location to initiate the production of our Conductus superconducting wire on a commercial scale. STI is excited to become a contributor to the region's continued high-tech success."

The new facility addresses STI's growth expectations for the Conductus wire initiative. The opening of the new facility has been scheduled to coincide with the delivery of the first superconducting wire production-ready equipment. The new equipment is scheduled for delivery and installation in the first quarter of 2012.

The 94,000 square foot Class A semiconductor manufacturing facility, previously occupied by Applied Materials, requires minimal capital investment as it is already equipped with upgrades including state of the art clean rooms with loading gantries, HEPA filtration, automated HVAC air handlers and exhaust system, and processed chilled water.

As previously noted, this decision is not expected to affect STI's headcount in Santa Barbara or to result in any material charges.

TSMC's 3rd Phase Wafer Plant in Taichung Set to Break Ground

The third phase of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s (TSMC) 12-inch wafer plant in the Central Taiwan Science Park in Taichung is scheduled to break ground.

TSMC is expected to disclose details of production at the various phases of the plant after the ground-breaking ceremony, which will be attended by the company's chairman Morris Chang.

The first phase of the plant, called Fab 15, is expected to begin operations in March 2012.

In the initial stages, the first phase operations will focus on the production of advanced 28 nanometer technology processes, said TSMC, the world's largest contract chip maker.

Currently, TSMC operates two 12-inch wafer plants, one in the Southern Taiwan Science Park and the other in the Hsinchu Science Park, with the latter producing 28 nm chips.

In the third quarter of this year, 28 nm chips accounted for just 0.5 percent of TSMC's total sales, but the figure is expected to rise to 2 percent in the fourth quarter and exceed 10 percent by the end of 2012.

TSMC said its efforts to boost 28 nm production is aimed at widening its technology lead over its competitors.

While the global semiconductor sector is expected to grow just 1 percent for 2011 from a year earlier amid weakening economic fundamentals, TSMC said its sales will grow about 9 percent, higher than the estimated average 4 percent for the entire global foundry business.

In response to slowing global demand, TSMC has cut its capital expenditure for 2011 to US$7.3 billion (NT$220 billion) from US$7.4 billion and expects its capex for next year to be lower than this year.

Despite the downward revisions, TSMC said, it will not slow its pace of investment in high-end production technology as it is aiming to sharpen its competitive edge.

TSMC began construction on Fab 15, Phase 1, in July 2010, and completed equipment move-in in mid-2011 with volume production scheduled for early 2012. At the same time, Fab 15, Phase 2 started construction in mid-2011 and is expected to begin volume production next year. Fab 15 Phases 1 and 2 are forecast to generate as much as US$3 billion in revenue per year once they enter volume production, and Phase 3 will also reach a similar scale in the future.

Fab 15 currently employs approximately 1'400 employees, and is expected to create a total of 8,000 high-quality job opportunities, developing talent for Taiwan’s semiconductor industry and bringing more high value-added growth opportunities to TSMC.

Fab 15, Phase 3 will be TSMC’s second GigaFab^™ equipped for 20nm process technology, and the company’s third "green fab" following Fab 12 and Fab 14. Fab 15, Phase 3 applies numerous pollution prevention and energy conservation methods, including classification of process wastewater into 25 categories, an effective process water recycling rate of 90%, water use reduction of 62%, and 5% less power consumption than earlier facilities.

In addition, Fab 15, Phase 3 has a rainwater collection surface of 40,000 square meters, and all collected rainwater is used in landscaping, consuming no water from public utilities. In addition, we aim to create a benchmark in high-quality green buildings with treatment effectiveness of cleanroom exhaust reaching as high as 98%, innovations in recirculation of waste heat, as well as application solar power and LED lighting technology. The construction of Fab 15, Phase 3 will continue to push forward the development of green factories by creating a green environment with comprehensive functionality.

As TSMC continues to expand Fab 15 in the Central Taiwan Science Park, the company will closely monitor industry trends and make decisions for future capacity expansion at Fab 12 in Hsinchu and Fab 14 in Tainan to strengthen its competitiveness and to support its growth.

Wacker Chemie Cuts Wafer Production with Siltronic Hikari Plant Closure

Siltronic, Wacker Chemie AG’s semiconductor division, will close its Hikari, Japan, 200mm wafer production site in a streamlining effort.

Siltronic's Hikari site makes semiconductor and monocrystalline silicon ingots, with about 500 employees. The site will close by mid-2012, and the production volumes transferred to Siltronic’s existing 200mm wafer plants in Singapore and Portland (Oregon, USA), increasing capacity utilization in those facilities. Siltronic operates on a lead-site strategy, wherein wafer production can be concentrated at single sites according to individual diameters.

The planned closure is expected to involve expenses of some €70 million. Thereof, around €45 million will be cash-relevant. These expenses had not been included in WACKER’s most recent earnings forecast for fiscal 2011 which calls for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) at last year’s level. The closure at Hikari will enable higher fixed-cost coverage as well as economies of scale, the company reports. Hikari staff will be offered severance packages, consultancy, and employment-search assistance, said Dr. Christoph von Plotho, Siltronic CEO.

Siltronic will keep a local sales force and application engineering presence in Japan.

Siltronic makes hyperpure silicon wafers for chip manufacturers.

Samsung Austin Semiconductor Completes Fab Line in Austin

Samsung Austin Semiconductor has declared that it has wrapped up construction and ramped up to mass production of S2, its 300 mm automated fab in Austin, Texas, in record time.

Samsung Austin Semiconductor started construction of the cleanroom for the S2 line in August 2010, and within seven months the company has wrapped up the testing of the process. The S2 line has attained its targeted production capacity of 40,000 wafers per month within five months following the production of its first silicon wafer in May 2011.

The S2 line uses sophisticated 45 nm node low-power logic process technology of Samsung to produce devices. With the well-established worldwide manufacturing network between its facilities located in Austin and Giheung, South Korea, the company can now fulfill its customer needs, while achieving highly efficient production operations.

Through optimized process parameters and equipment, Samsung Austin Semiconductor was able to reach the targeted production capacity before schedule, while fulfilling the consistent output rate needs, electronic characteristics and reliability in the first instance.

The S2 line’s head is Samsung Austin Semiconductor’s Vice President, Steve Hah. The installation of the sophisticated low-power technology at the company’s new logic line at its Austin facility in line with its 300 mm logic line at its Giheung facility allows it to meet the customer needs and improve its sophisticated production competitiveness, Hah said.Samsung Austin Semiconductor has declared that it has wrapped up construction and ramped up to mass production of S2, its 300 mm automated fab in Austin, Texas, in record time.

Samsung Austin Semiconductor started construction of the clean room for the S2 line in August 2010, and within seven months the company has wrapped up the testing of the process. The S2 line has attained its targeted production capacity of 40,000 wafers per month within five months following the production of its first silicon wafer in May 2011.

Taiwanese University Unveils Semiconductor Lab

National Tsing Hua University unveiled a new compound semiconductor laboratory that it hopes will contribute to the development of new chip components that will support alternative green energy sources.

The lab represents the first project in Taiwan to fully integrate semiconductor component research, said Cheng Keh-yung, dean of NTHU's College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, at the inauguration ceremony. Cheng said the lab will cover passive and active component development from the epitaxy process (which creates crystals for many base semiconductor materials) to chip component manufacturing and testing.

The lab, a collaboration between the university's Center For Nanotechnology, Materials Science, and Microsystems and the Institute of Electronics Engineering, is hoping to develop components that will generate green energy and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Among the components targeted are high-brightness LEDs and high-power, high-voltage transistors, which Cheng described as the keys to developing next-generation lighting systems, electric cars, and communications equipment. Cheng also hoped the lab would create an excellent research environment that brings out student's innovative potential.

GlobalFoundries Delays Construction of New Facility

Chip foundry GlobalFoundries has postponed its plans to start building a new facility in Abu Dhabi in 2012 in light of economic uncertainty, Abu Dhabi-based newspaper The National has reported.

The Silicon Valley-based foundry was formed as part of an AMD manufacturing spin-off in 2009 and currently has facilities in Dresden, Germany, Singapore, and New York. It had announced earlier this year that Abu Dhabi would be joining its list of worldwide locations.

The funding for GlobalFoundries' expansion comes primarily from Abu Dhabi-based Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC), which owns approximately 91 percent of the GlobalFoundries business. ATIC said that the postponement of a new foundry plant within the United Arab Emirates capital city is due to economic instability.

"We will not be engaging in any ground breaking in Abu Dhabi in 2012," said Ibrahim Ajami, a chief executive at ATIC, in a statement. "Against the backdrop of a global economy still very volatile, we took a decision from a board level that we should not have another facility right now, but we should assess what happens before the end of 2012 on our growth strategy."

The Abu Dhabi plant, which was initially planned to be operational by 2015, would have joined the ranks of other GlobalFoundries facilities producing chips for clients including AMD, Broadcom and Qualcomm.

Ajami assured The National that ATIC and GlobalFoundries aren’t calling it quits on the Abu Dhabi initiative. A decision as to when construction plans will resume will be disclosed by the end of 2012, he said.

Jason Gorss, a spokesperson for GlobalFoundries, also stressed the foundry’s commitment to the new Abu Dahbi plant, despite construction delays. "We are committed to establishing a manufacturing and technology presence in Abu Dhabi, but we haven’t established a concrete timeline or announced specific details about the facility," Gorss told CRN. "Given the volatility in the world economy and the decline in global semiconductor demand due to economic conditions, we are reviewing our expansion plans to ensure they are fully aligned with customers' needs."

While plans for Abu Dahbi have been put on hold, GlobalFoundries will continue to add new capacity by ramping tools in its New York and Dresden facilities, Gorss said.

Perhaps amplifying the economic uncertainty cited by GlobalFoundries is a recent report suggesting AMD may halt the production of its 28-nm chips currently underway at the foundry. AMD declined to comment whether manufacturing would be cancelled due to alleged low-yield production, but did tell CRN that the chipmaker is committed to its partnership with the foundry.

MyLED Pours Millions on Facility Upgrade

Malaysian company MyLED Group, which includes MyLED Master and MyLED Opto Technology, is investing $54.90 million (RM175 million) to expand its manufacturing capability in the green technology sector.

The company claims that it will be the first local firm who will have both solid state lighting (SSL) and light emitting diode (LED) manufacturing technology. The SLL technology will be under MyLED Master, while the LED technology will be under MyLED Opto Technology.

"From now until 2014, we're putting in money to expand our SSL plant to make LED chips. We'll be leveraging on Osram Opto Semiconductor's technology to start mass production from January 2012," said MyLED group chairman Datuk Fauzi Said.

MYLED Group will invest in expanding their production facility at Malacca, Malaysia to meet the growing demand for SSL, which has the potential for tremendous savings via LED lighting. Aside from the local market, MyLED Master will export its products to markets such as India and Middle East countries in two years. The facility in Malacca will also house R&D operations to further reduce costs.

MyLED Opto Technology will focus on producing LEDs for lighting applications. Aside from supplying its parent company, MyLED Opto will also supply LEDs locally and to markets such as China, India, Taiwan and Korea.

This investment of MyLED Group is believed to generate around 900 jobs.

Tera Xtal to Set Up Plant in China

Chien Fu Shieh, chairman of Taiwan-based sapphire substrate maker Tera Xtal, has said that after merging with Alpha Xtal on December 10, 2011, the company plans to set up a production facility in China. The production facility will include upstream crystal-growing to substrate-making. The plant is expected to begin production in third-quarter 2012 the earliest.

Tera Xtal is one of the three largest sapphire substrate makers in Taiwan. Though the price of sapphire substrates has been falling rapidly in 2011, Tera Xtal has been able to maintain September and October revenues at levels above NT$100 million (US$3.3 million).

After the merger, the firm will become the first vertically integrated LED sapphire supplier in Taiwan. According to Shieh, the size and capacity of the China plant are still under planning. The aim for the firm is to capture the LED chip market in China.

The current monthly capacity of Tera Xtal is around 300,000-450,000 units.

Genesis Completes Third Plant in Taiwan

LED chipmaker Genesis Photonics has completed the construction of its third plant, located at the Tainan Science Park (TSP). Genesis will install a 6-inch epitaxial wafer production line in the plant.

David Chung, chairman of Geneis Photonics, pointed out improvements in technology can help to bring market demand. Genesis will introduce new LED lighting module products by end of the year and expects shipments to begin in first-quarter 2012. Genesis aims to increase revenues from lighting from the current 30% to 50% in 2012.

Chung added that the current capacity utilization rate is around 70% and the fourth quarter should be the low point of the LED industry. However, Genesis expects to make profits despite the downturn of the market. When inventory has been cleared out, shipments are likely to increase in 2012. Chung anticipates the market to rebound in second-quarter 2012. By the second half of 2012, the LED lighting market will take off, said Chung.

As for the new plant, by end of the year, there will be around 65 MOCVD tools with 6-inch epitaxial wafer annual capacity reaching 5,000 units.

According to Chung, the China market accounts for 60-70% of the sales of LED lighting products and Japan 20-30 percent.

Toppan Photomasks Grows Shanghai Site

Toppan Photomasks, Inc., a subsidiary of Toppan Printing Co. Ltd., will expand its Shanghai manufacturing operation serving China's semiconductor industry. Costing about $20 million, the expansion will increase photomask production significantly, and enable more advanced photomasks made with feature sizes as small as 90nm.

Toppan Photomasks Company Limited, Shanghai (TPCS) is a joint venture between Toppan Photomasks Inc and the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology. It opened in 1996 and currently employs about 160 people. Toppan's China-based wafer foundry customers include Shanghai Hua Hong NEC Electronics Co. Ltd., CSMC Technologies Corp., Shanghai HuaLi Microelectronics Corp., Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. Ltd. and HeJian Technology (Suzhou) Co., Ltd.

TPCS will construct an additional 4950sq.m. (53,262 sq. ft.) manufacturing facility adjacent to its existing Shanghai operation, adding clean room space and enhanced lithography, process, inspection, and repair capabilities.

China is a "key market" for semiconductors, noted Michael Hadsell, Toppan Photomasks’ executive vice president for worldwide sales. The additional capabilities for 90nm designs recognize how China's semiconductor manufacturing processes are advancing, and will support increased competitiveness of China's semiconductor products, said Professor Xi Wang, SIMIT president and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Construction will begin in Q1 2012 and conclude by December 2012.

Toppan Printing makes photomasks for the global semiconductor industry.

Fairchild Semiconductor's 200mm Mountain Top Wafer Fab Rebounds

Reversing its 2009 decision to close the 200mm wafer fab, Fairchild Semiconductor will keep open its Mountain Top, PA, facility. Moutain Top makes high-voltage and automotive semiconductor products.

Since the original closure decision in 2009, these industrial, appliance, and automotive chip sales have more than doubled. Fairchild expects to continue rapidly expanding these businesses, making Mountain Top essential to support current and future needs. Mountain Top's 220+ employees will also strive to improve efficiency and costs at the wafer fab, said Mark Thompson, president, chairman, and CEO.

The Mountain Top facility has been in operation since 1960, manufacturing electronic components. Fairchild plans to work with employees as well as local and state government officials to explore future expansion opportunities to support its growing business while improving efficiency and costs as it competes within a global environment.

Fairchild Semiconductor delivers energy-efficient, easy-to-use and value-added semiconductor solutions for power and mobile designs.

Thailand Semiconductor Sector Uncertain after Flooding

The major floods which hit Thailand have led to greater “uncertainty” in the semiconductor industry, according to recent analysis from CitiGroup.

But the study predicts natural disaster impact is often “temporary,” and “any pullbacks” are actually “buying opportunities.”

The CitiGroup study notes that most of the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) assembly plants are in industrial parks located within 20-30 miles of Bangkok. The region is vital to HDD assembly. Some 50 percent of the global HDD assembly is done in Thailand. Western Digital, HGST and Toshiba are among those firms located there.

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