NXP chips in for Singapore fab

NXP and Vanguard International Semiconductor have announced a 7.8-billion -dollar joint venture to construct a 300mm fab in Singapore. The Dutch chipmaker will own 40 percent of the Visionpower Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (VSMC), which will manufacture 130nm to 40nm mixed-signal, power management and analog products, targeting the automotive, industrial, consumer and mobile end markets. The underlying process technologies will be licensed from TSMC, which is a major shareholder of Vanguard and NXP’s principal manufacturing partner.

“NXP continues to take proactive actions to ensure it has a manufacturing base that provides competitive cost, supply control and geographic resilience to support our long-term growth objectives,” says NXP CEO Kurt Sievers. “We believe Vanguard is well suited and fully understands the complexities involved in building and operating together with NXP a 300mm analog mixed-signal fab.”