Monday, January 22, 2007

ProMOS to make Image Sensors in China

EETimes: ProMOS said it will invest $360 million in the 200mm wafer fab in the city of Chongqing that will produce CMOS image sensors, among other ICs. State-controlled banks will lend another $360 million, while the Chongqing government will put up about $200 million to build the fab, and then lease it to ProMOS. If things go well, ProMOS will eventually buy the facility.

The clean room should be finished by the end of this year. Mass production will begin in the second quarter of 2008. The planned capacity is 60,000 wafers per month. ProMOS will buy new equipment for the first 20,000 wafers, and then transfer used equipment from a fab in Taiwan for the rest. Initially, ProMOS will use 0.25 micron design rules and then migrate to more advanced technology as the fab reaches full capacity by 2009.

Digitimes presents a slightly different ProMOS fab schedule: ProMOS first 8-inch fab in China at Chongqing will have pilot runs slated to start during the end of the year and volume production slated for the first quarter of 2008.

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