Philips to build US$1billion Chinese plant

Philips Semiconductors is to build a new integrated circuit assembly and test plant at the Suzhou Industrial Park in eastern China.

Philips Semiconductors assembly and test organisation senior vice president, Ger Schonk, said the new plant was part of its long-term focus on facility investment, and will help meet the anticipated high demand for semiconductor chips.

“As one of the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturers, we carefully investigated possible locations for our new plant. In choosing the Suzhou Industrial Park we found we had access to a wide range of potential employees and a well-developed technical and logistics infrastructure – both of which are key ingredients in the success of our venture.”

“The new plant will perfectly complement the existing IC assembly and test facilities we have located in Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines.”

Completion of the two-phase construction is expected by 2006, creating an expected 3,500 jobs, including 500 engineering posts.

Final capacity will be 750 million units, mostly in high-end ball grid array and chip scale packages. Production will begin as early as next year.

“We have long realised the importance of China in our strategy for growth and have made significant investment in Asia Pacific as a whole in recent years,” said Philips Semiconductors president and ceo, Arthur van der Poel. “This new facility in Suzhou is part of our long-term growth strategy. As we have demonstrated in the past, we look to the long-term needs of our customers, while also managing through the short-term market developments.”

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