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SilTerra
upbeat over 2006 growth
By RUPA DAMODARAN
The
New Straits Times Press
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SILTERRA Malaysia Sdn Bhd, a wafer foundry majority-owned by
Khazanah Nasional Bhd, is optimistic of achieving good growth
next year, given the positive outlook within the global
semiconductor industry.
Its sales and marketing director (Asia) Koh Meng Kong said the
Kulim-based company is well positioned to offer its main
stream foundry technologies for the ‘hot’ markets.
Its range of hot products includes those found in
low-cost notebook computers, the iPOD music machine,
cellphones, digital cameras, personal media players,
LCD TVs, PDA phones, the Apple iBook and the XBOX360
game console.
“With our 0.13, 0.18 and 0.22 micron feature size in
our wafer technology, we will be able to meet the
demands of consumer product chipset, display drivers,
wireless transceiver as well as wired/networking
product chipset,” he said in a media briefing at
Balai Berita in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
SilTerra’s Fab 1, an award-winning 200mm facility,
is designed with a maximum capacity of 40 thousand
wafers per month.
The facility utilises 100 per cent scanner
photolithography equipment and IS able to manufacture
wafer technology down to 0.13 micron process geometry. |
KOH: "We expect to reach our
maximum production of
40,000 wafers per month
next year"
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“We expect to reach our maximum production capacity of
40,000 wafers per month next year,” Koh said.
The company’s sales revenue rose 83 per cent to RM571.14
million for the year ended December 31 2004 from the previous
year, while its total volume of wafers shipped during the year
went up by 54 per cent year-on-year.
SilTerra’s industry-leading high voltage process technology
accounts for a sizeable portion of the company’s sales
revenue.
Koh has earmarked Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong as his
main marketing priorities in the Asian market to brand
SilTerra and Malaysia in front-end processing in the
semiconductor supply chain through wafer processing and IC
design.
SilTerra has used the advantage of its wafer foundry to form
two design alliances this year with Essensium (Belgium) and
Goyatek (Taiwan).
On the outlook for the wafer foundry business in 2006, he said
demand has been going strong from the third quarter of 2005
and it is expected to go through the first quarter of next
year.
According to technology research firm IDC, the global
semiconductor industry production value will edge up 8 per
cent next year, up from 5 per cent this year and it will be
led by the foundry sector, where double-digit growth is
expected.
Market research company iSuppli has also raised its 2005 chip
market growth forecast from US$227 billion (US$1 = RM3.78) to
US$237 billion, or 4.4 per cent growth.
About
Silterra Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.:
Market demand driven, SilTerra Malaysia Sdn Bhd is a
semiconductor wafer foundry offering major foundry compatible
CMOS logic, high-voltage and mixed-signal/RF technologies down
to 0.13-micron feature size. This includes complete,
competitive contract manufacturing for fabless and IDM
customers’ designs. SilTerra’s wafer fab has a design
capacity of 40,000 eight-inch wafers per month.
Environmentally
vigilant, SilTerra delivers award winning, world-class
performance to its customers seeking flexible capacity,
competitive advantages and around the clock customer support.
SilTerra is ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001 certified. Founded in
1995, the company’s headquarters and factory are located in
Malaysia’s Kulim High-Tech Park, and SilTerra has sales and
marketing offices in San Jose (California) and Hsinchu
(Taiwan). For additional information on SilTerra or its
services, please visit www.silterra.com.
Silterra
Contact
Koh Meng Kong
Tel:
+6-012-491-0425 (Cell phone)
Tel:
+604-401-4166 (o)
Email: mengkong_koh@silterra.com
Lu Ping Chiang
Tel : +886-3-574-1587 (o)
Email:
pingchiang_lu@silterra.com
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