Jun 2 2006
Toshiba Corporation and Kaga Toshiba Electronics Corporation have announced that they would construct a new semiconductor production fab based on 200mm wafers at Kaga Toshiba, a consolidated subsidiary of Toshiba based in Ishikawa prefecture, Japan. The new fab will enhance production capacity for power devices.
Demand is growing for power devices that control current flows in consumer electronics equipment, such as flat panel TVs, mobile phones, notebook PCs and home-use game consoles, and in hybrid automobiles. Toshiba and Kaga Toshiba's investment in the new production fab will increase production capacity for these key devices.
The overall investment in a new building and production line is expected to be over 50 billion yen in the five years to 2010. Construction will start in September 2006, with the start of mass production slated for the third quarter (July-September) of 2007. At full capacity, the new fab will produce 60,000 wafers a month, positioning Toshiba among the leaders in producers of power devices.
Toshiba Group's well-balanced semiconductor business covers three major product areas: system LSIs, memories and discrete devices. Kaga Toshiba operates as a key Toshiba Group facility for discrete devices, carrying out product development and front and back end processes for small-signal devices and power devices. Toshiba decided to increase production capacity at Kaga Toshiba in support of a drive to expand the power device business, a key product line, and to strengthen the overall profitability of the business.
By transferring production equipment from Yokkaichi Operations and other Toshiba facilities, and by equipment purchases from outside the Group, Toshiba will optimize investment efficiency.
Alongside proactive investments in state-of-the-art products manufacturing sites such as Yokkaichi Operations for NAND flash memories and Oita Operations for cutting-edge system LSI, Toshiba also continues to promote strategic, market-appropriate investments in businesses that generate sustainable profit businesses including discrete devices, manufactured mainly in Kaga Toshiba and Himeji Operations-Semiconductor. Such investments reinforce profitability and maintain a strategic balance in the Company's semiconductor operations.
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