SMIC receives 300-mm wafer equipment for Fab 4

Peter Clarke
(06/02/2004 1:00 PM EDT)

  LONDON — Shanghai-based foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. has received its first chip manufacturing equipment for use in its 300-mm diameter wafers, the company said Wednesday (June 2).

SMIC did not describe the equipment or identify the manufacturer, but said the equipment is due to be installed in SMIC's Fab 4 in Beijing.

Fab 4 is due to be China's first 300-mm wafer fab when it begins production in the second half of 2004, SMIC said. "SMIC is pleased to be ramping up its 12-inch fab to serve the needs of leading semiconductor players such as Infineon and Elpida. The equipment move-in at Fab 4 demonstrates SMIC's ability to compete in the global semiconductor market by providing our customers with the most advanced foundry services currently offered in the world," said SMIC CEO Marco Mora.

Mora said SMIC would seek to "diversify our offerings to include advanced logic production, as successfully demonstrated in our fabs in Shanghai." Fab 4's planned capacity is 20,000 wafers per month by the end of 2005, or 45,000 wafers per month when measured in 200-mm diameter wafer equivalents.