Toshiba's Iwate Fab to Restore Operations in April

EETimes: Toshiba hopes to restore some level of operation at its wafer fab in Kitakami, Iwate, by the end of March, the company said in a status update on Friday, March 18. However, the company said it will only be able to start test operations after recovery of its power supply.

Iwate plant is one of the two Toshiba facilities producing image sensors. Iwate was one of the worst-affected by the devastating earthquake that hit Japan on March 11. The company said that ceilings, walls and air conditioning plant had been damaged at Iwate fab but that the company expected to complete repairs by the end of March. Also, some equipment had been moved from their fixed positions and Toshiba said it is working with equipment suppliers to get kit back in position and hooked up by the end of March.

Update: Toshiba PR from March 23 says:
"Iwate Toshiba Electronics Co. Ltd., (location: Kitakami City, Iwate Pref.) will start to ramp-up production lines from March 28. To minimize impacts on customers, Toshiba has started to provide support at alternative production facilities, such as Oita Operations (Oita Pref.), Himeji Operations-Semiconductor (Hyogo Pref.) and Kaga Toshiba Electronics Corporation (Ishikawa Pref.)"