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.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
RSS