Powertech Technology Inc (力成科技), the nation’s largest memorychip tester and packager, yesterday said it has entered into a series of service supply agreements with Micron Technology Inc of the US to provide DRAM chip testing and packaging services in Xian, China.
The announcement ended year-long speculation that Micron might form a partnership with Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體) in China to supply chip testing and packaging services there.
In a statement issued yesterday, Powertech said it would initially invest US$70 million in creating a new DRAM entity in Xian under the partnership.
Investments would increase to about US$210 million, as the firm plans to purchase equipment for a new plant, which is to be built by Micron in a high-tech zone in Xian, Powertech said.
“Upon the completion of the new plant, Powertech will operate the assembly facility and provide Micron with assembly and packaging services for a period of several years,” the company said in the statement.
Powertech chief executive officer Tsai Du-kung (蔡篤恭) said: “Powertech is pleased to team up with Micron in developing this new assembly facility in Xian, which will also help Powertch further expand its services throughout the region.”
Rick Bunch, vice president of Micron’s backend manufacturing unit, said collaborating with Powertech would allow the US memorychip maker to enhance its worldwide integrated manufacturing operations and decrease product cycle time.
The new Chinese plant is scheduled to ramp up production in the first half of 2016.
Powertech, which counts Micron as one of its biggest clients, said DRAM chip testing and packaging services contributed 32 percent of its total revenue of NT$10.46 billion in the July-to-September quarter.
In October, the company said it planned to spend NT$10 billion on new equipment this year. As of the end of last quarter, the company booked NT$16.95 billion in cash.
Powertech shares rose 0.56 percent to NT$54.3 yesterday, underperforming the TAIEX, which rose 1.55 percent.
SETBACK: Apple’s India iPhone push has been disrupted after Foxconn recalled hundreds of Chinese engineers, amid Beijing’s attempts to curb tech transfers Apple Inc assembly partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known internationally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has recalled about 300 Chinese engineers from a factory in India, the latest setback for the iPhone maker’s push to rapidly expand in the country. The extraction of Chinese workers from the factory of Yuzhan Technology (India) Private Ltd, a Hon Hai component unit, in southern Tamil Nadu state, is the second such move in a few months. The company has started flying in Taiwanese engineers to replace staff leaving, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named, as the
The prices of gasoline and diesel at domestic fuel stations are to rise NT$0.1 and NT$0.4 per liter this week respectively, after international crude oil prices rose last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to rise to NT$27.3, NT$28.8 and NT$30.8 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to rise to NT$26.2 per liter at CPC stations and NT$26 at Formosa pumps, they said. The announcements came after international crude oil prices
DOLLAR SIGNS: The central bank rejected claims that the NT dollar had appreciated 10 percentage points more than the yen or the won against the greenback The New Taiwan dollar yesterday fell for a sixth day to its weakest level in three months, driven by equity-related outflows and reactions to an economics official’s exchange rate remarks. The NT dollar slid NT$0.197, or 0.65 percent, to close at NT$30.505 per US dollar, central bank data showed. The local currency has depreciated 1.97 percent so far this month, ranking as the weakest performer among Asian currencies. Dealers attributed the retreat to foreign investors wiring capital gains and dividends abroad after taking profit in local shares. They also pointed to reports that Washington might consider taking equity stakes in chipmakers, including Taiwan Semiconductor
A German company is putting used electric vehicle batteries to new use by stacking them into fridge-size units that homes and businesses can use to store their excess solar and wind energy. This week, the company Voltfang — which means “catching volts” — opened its first industrial site in Aachen, Germany, near the Belgian and Dutch borders. With about 100 staff, Voltfang says it is the biggest facility of its kind in Europe in the budding sector of refurbishing lithium-ion batteries. Its CEO David Oudsandji hopes it would help Europe’s biggest economy ween itself off fossil fuels and increasingly rely on climate-friendly renewables. While
RSS