Texas Instruments Inc, the second-largest US chipmaker, bought a plant in China and will begin making semiconductors in the country for the first time as it adds overseas capacity to increase market share.
The company bought a 200mm wafer facility from Cension Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (成芯半導體) in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu and will use it to make analog chips, Texas Instruments senior vice president Gregg Lowe said in a telephone interview.
Texas Instruments didn’t disclose how much it paid for the factory, which was operated by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (中芯國際集成電路).
The purchase adds to an expansion push by Texas Instruments that included buying plants and equipment in Japan and fitting out another facility in Richardson, Texas, near its headquarters.
The move underscores the chipmaker’s determination to increase its market share at a time when rivals aren’t adding capacity, Lowe said on Thursday.
“It was at a price point that made it very interesting for us,” he said. “I am unaware of any other analog company that has made an announcement of any significance” regarding new facilities, Lowe said.
Texas Instruments is the largest maker of analog chips, semiconductors that convert physical inputs such as touch and sound into electronic signals and are used in products from washing machines to supercomputers.
The Chengdu plant, which employs about 700 people, will be used to make power-management chips. The plant also has an empty space that can be equipped later to expand production, Lowe said.
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