Infineon Reaches Milestone in China: Formal Opening of Suzhou Plant
MUNICH, Germany & SUZHOU, China—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Sept. 23, 2004—
Infineon Technologies AG (NYSE:IFX) (FWB:IFX) today
announced the execution of a further step within its China growth
strategy. Infineon Technologies Suzhou Co., Ltd. has been formally
opened in the presence of the Suzhou Party Secretary Wang Min. The
first memory products are expected to roll off the backend production
line by the end of calendar year 2004. Work on constructing the new
production facility has begun in October 2003, and volume production
is planned to commence in early 2005.
Simultaneously, Infineon inaugurated an IT Development Center in
Suzhou focusing on manufacturing processes. The development center
will employ between 80 and 100 engineers which will support the
backend Suzhou manufacturing fab and become part of the worldwide IT
Manufacturing Center of Competence (CoC).
Infineon Technologies Suzhou Co., Ltd.
Once completed, the facility will have a maximum capacity of up to
one billion memory chips a year. The new company, located in the
Suzhou Industrial Park, 80 km to the west of Shanghai, will operate
under the name Infineon Technologies Suzhou Co., Ltd. Infineon holds
72.5 percent of the shares of the joint venture, China-Singapore
Suzhou Industrial Park Venture Co. the remaining 27.5 percent.
The new facility will be developed in a number of stages as
dictated by growth and trends in the global semiconductor market.
Total planned investment in the project amounts to around US-Dollar 1
billion. When operating at full capacity, Infineon Technologies Suzhou
will employ over 1,000 people.
"With this cooperation, we are systematically expanding our
presence in the future market of China," said Peter Bauer, CMO of
Infineon Technologies AG. "Infineon's partnerships with companies in
China are well on track. We currently conduct business with several
partners in the area of frontend and backend manufacturing. Of course,
Infineon is also proud to have very good partnerships with customers
all over China. The expansion of our R&D facilities in Shanghai and
Xian are progressing nicely."
IT Development Center Suzhou
The IT development center Suzhou has been created to support
Infineon's IT activities in the Asia pacific region concentrating
mainly on the manufacturing process including manufacturing execution
system, equipment integration & high automation, data collection &
analysis, and business intelligence systems. The development group
will build and maintain systems for use in all Infineon production
sites, worldwide, supporting Infineon's standard manufacturing
processes. The support group will integrate all regional IT services
for Business, Manufacturing, R&D and Operational Systems.
"The Suzhou development center gives us the opportunity to create
services not currently available on the market; creating a critical
mass to support not only our Asian fabs but to supply all Infineon
manufacturing locations with standardized, up-to-date and leading edge
technology," explained Karl Pomschar, CIO of Infineon Technologies.
"Given its proximity to the new production facility in Suzhou, its
high cost efficiency, and strong support from the provincial
government, Suzhou is the ideal location for this IT development
center."
Infineon in China
Infineon has been a player in China since October 1994 (at that
time still as Siemens Semiconductors). Today the company employs about
1,200 people in China and plans to grow its workforce here to more
than 3,000 in the future. In Shanghai, the company cooperates with
SMIC, which enables it to secure production capacities for memory
chips without having to invest in its own facilities. In return
Infineon licenses its leading 300 mm technology to its Chinese
partner. In Suzhou, Infineon just inaugurated a joint venture for
assembly and test of memory chips. In Wuxi, Infineon has a backend
production facility for logic products, while the development center
in Xi'an develops products for the communication segments and the
automotive and industrial electronics sector. Infineon also has sales
offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
Strategic collaboration with local partners is one of the key
cornerstones of Infineon Technologies' expansion strategy in China. In
March 2003, Infineon has expanded its successful production
cooperation for standard memory chips (DRAMs) with SMIC, Shanghai.
Given its manufacturing expertise and extensive technology portfolio,
it also provides its major Chinese customers with the highest quality
and most cost-effective semiconductor solutions, to enhance their
competitive advantage in the local and global marketplaces.
About Infineon
Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers semiconductor
and system solutions for the automotive and industrial sectors, for
applications in the wired communications markets, secure mobile
solutions as well as memory products. With a global presence, Infineon
operates in the US from San Jose, CA, in the Asia-Pacific region from
Singapore and in Japan from Tokyo. In fiscal year 2003 (ending
September), the company achieved sales of Euro 6.15 billion with about
32,300 employees world-
wide. Infineon is listed on the DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock
Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX).
Further information is available at www.infineon.com.
This news release is available online at
http://www.infineon.com/news/.
For the Business and Trade Press: INFXX200409.100e
Contact:
Infineon Technologies AG
Worldwide Headquarters
Guenter Gaugler
Phone / Fax: +49 89 234 28481 / 28482
Email: guenter.gaugler@infineon.com
or
U.S.A.
Christoph Liedtke
Phone / Fax: +1 408 501 6790 / 2424
Email: christoph.liedtke@infineon.com
or
Asia
Kaye Lim
Phone / Fax: +65 6840 0689 / 0073
Email: kaye.lim@infineon.com
or
Japan
Hirotaka Shiroguchi
Phone / Fax: +81 3 5449 6795 / 6401
Email: hirotaka.shiroguchi@infineon.com
or
Investor Relations
EU/APAC +49 89 234 26655
USA/CAN +1 408 501 6800
Email: investor.relations@infineon.com
