Infineon Technologies and Sanyo Electric Signed Alliance on Production of RF Semiconductor Devices

Mar 14, 2001 | Market News

Joint Press Release from Infineon Technologies and Sanyo Electric

Tokyo, Japan and Munich, Germany – March 14, 2001 - Infineon Technologies AG (FSE/NYSE: IFX) and Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. announced today, that they will cooperate on the production of ultra high-frequency (RF) devices. Under the terms of this agreement Infineon will supply high end SIEGET® RF transistor chips to Sanyo. Using these chips, Sanyo will start production of leadless ECSP™ (Environmentally-considered Chip Scale Packages) for Infineon. At the same time, Infineon and Sanyo will commence marketing Infineon RF transistor chips in ECSP™ package under their own brands.

Sanyo’s leadless ECSP™ package with dimensions of only 1.0mm x 0.6mm x 0.48mm together with Infineon’s superior SIEGET® RF transistor chips (fT = 45 GHz) are ideal components for all wireless applications. By addressing the specific requirements of higher operating frequencies, reduced power consumption and space saving packaging Infineon’s RF transistors using Sanyo’s ECSP™ technology provide a perfect basis for future mobile communication and wireless internet standards such as 2.5G, 3G, and Hyper LAN. These devices are targeted to be used as low noise amplifiers (LNA), driver amplifiers, buffer amplifiers and RF transistors for voltage controlled oscillators (VCO). The agreement combines the strengths of Infineon and Sanyo on RF chip design, manufacturing and packaging.

The alliance of Sanyo and Infineon brings together ECSP™ and industry-leading high-frequency discrete device technologies possessed by the respective companies, marking a significant move for both companies and enabling them to offer a wider lineup of competitive products to the growing mobile communications equipment market. Sanyo and Infineon will continue to expand their ultra-high-frequency product lines while ensuring a stable product supply.

The mobile communications market, which largely revolves around wireless telephony, has continued its significant growth due to advances in mobile communications equipment through data communication capability, multimedia features, high performance, and multi-functions as well as the compact size, thin dimensions, and light weight of individual units. Miniaturization of the chips, primarily LSIs, in these mobile devices is being promoted aggressively. At the same time, demand has been growing for units of even higher performance, smaller size, thinner dimensions, and lighter weight in module components incorporating high-frequency discrete devices.

In December 1998, Sanyo developed the world's smallest and thinnest leadless transistor package based on an original ECSP™ concept. This ECSP™ uses no lead by virtue of its leadless structure, and also reduces resin waste to less than 1/30 of Sanyo's previous products in the packaging process. Sanyo hopes to establish its ECSP™ as a global standard for environmentally friendly transistor packages.

Infineon is a pioneer in the field of high-frequency transistors. In 1994, the company was the first to commercialize the SIEGET® 25 family of ultra-high-frequency transistors with a cut-off frequency (fT) of 25 GHz. In 1999, Infineon successfully developed and launched the SIEGET® 45, the world's highest-performance silicon bipolar transistor with a cut-off frequency of 45 GHz. The company is currently promoting the SIEGET® 45 as well as the SIEGET® 25 line in the mobile communications equipment market. The success of these products has established Infineon as one of the leading manufacturer of high-frequency transistors (fT of 1 GHz and above).


About Infineon


Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions for applications in the wired and wireless communications markets, for security systems and smartcards, for the automotive and industrial sectors, as well as memory products. With a global presence, Infineon operates in the US from San Jose, CA, in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore and in Japan from Tokyo. In the fiscal year 2000 (ending September), the company achieved sales of Euro 7.28 billion with about 29,000 employees worldwide. Infineon is listed on the DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX). Further information is available at www.infineon.com


About SANYO Semiconductor Company


SANYO Semiconductor Company is one of the five principle companies that make up SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. The Company provides semiconductor devices, flat panel displays and system solutions for leading applications in the electronics industry such as mobile communication equipment, PC/PC related products and analog/digital AV equipment. The SANYO Semiconductor Company has three wafer fabs and five assembly fabs in Japan and six assembly fabs in the Asia-Pacific region. The Company’s sales bases are located in North America, Europe, Asia and Japan. In the fiscal year 1999 (ending March 2000) the SANYO Semiconductor Company achieved a total sales of 323 billion yen with approximately 15,000 employees worldwide including subsidiary companies. Further information is available at www.semic.sanyo.co.jp

Information Number

INFWS200103.054e