Infineon expands in-house fab capacity

Infineon is expanding its in-house 300mm manufacturing capacity by acquiring land and manufacturing facilities in Dresden which belonged to its former subsidiary Qimonda which went into bankruptcy.

The move follows a healthy surge in orders over the last twelve months. ‘Based on this transaction and the further expansion of capacity due to continued strong order intake and a healthy level of orders on hand, Infineon is increasing the capital expenditure budget for the 2011 fiscal year from approximately $700m to €850m,’ states the company.

The land which has been purchased borders directly on the Infineon premises in Dresden, Germany. The manufacturing assets include the cleanroom, manufacturing facilities and 300mm manufacturing equipment of the former Qimonda Dresden site.  The move forms part of the company’s strategic capacity expansion.

Infineon is buying the assets from Qimonda’s insolvency administrator for €100.6m.The insolvency administrator had kept the cleanroom facilities operational after the insolvency proceedings were opened. Infineon now takes over the full remaining items of property and manufacturing facilities.

With this purchase Infineon secures 300mm manufacturing equipment that forms an important basis for potential volume production of 300mm power semiconductors.

Infineon is currently working on a development project to assess the use of 300mm wafers for manufacturing power semiconductors on thin wafer technology.

For this purpose a pilot line is set-up at the company’s site in Villach, Austria. Some of the machinery now acquired will be used for completion of the pilot line in Villach.

Infineon will decide about the start and the location of a 300mm volume production during the current fiscal year.