Winbond invests in 300mm wafer fab

Winbond Electronics Corp. said Monday (Jan. 24) it is taking out a $250 million loan to fund the early phase construction of its 300mm wafer fab in central Taiwan.

Winbond has been talking about building a 300mm wafer fab for years, but the project has met with numerous delays, including one related to a site in southern Taiwan that was deemed too close to a national high-speed rail project.

A restructuring in 2002 that pushed the company away from commodity memory also postponed the project. However, last year the company began to generate renewed interest in the fab and struck a technology partnership with Infineon Technology AG, which will provide 90nm technology to the Taiwanese.

The five-year syndicated loan came from local banks.

- Mike Clendenin

EE Times