Infineon Signs Major Foundry Agreement with SMIC in China Securing Access to Further Capacities to Support Infineon?s Growth in the Memory Chip Market

Dec 9, 2002 | Market News

Munich/Shanghai, December 9, 2002 – Infineon Technologies AG (FSE/NYSE: IFX), Munich, Germany, and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), Shanghai, China, today announced that they have signed an agreement to cooperate on the production of standard memory chips (DRAMs). Under the terms of the agreement, Infineon will transfer its 0.14-µm DRAM trench technology to SMIC, with an option for future transfer of its 0.11-µm technology. In return, SMIC will manufacture these particular products exclusively for Infineon.

SMIC will equip its existing 200mm facility in Shanghai with Infineon’s 0.14-µm production technology. Qualification of products is scheduled for mid-2003. SMIC will start production with 256-Mbit DDR memory chips. Depending on the development of the DRAM market the company will produce higher memory densities in the future. Following the ramp up of the SMIC facility, the cooperation will enable Infineon to increase its overall capacity by around 20,000 wafer starts per month by 2005.

This collaboration will further consolidate Infineon’s position as the third largest semiconductor manufacturer in the DRAM market and establish itself as a leading provider in the growing Chinese market. According to forecasts by market research firm Gartner Dataquest, the semiconductor market in China alone is set to grow from approximately US $16 billion in 2002 to around US $31 billion in 2006.

“In entering this production cooperation with the technologically leading Chinese semiconductor manufacturer we are systematically pursuing our ‘Agenda 5-to-1’ strategy: We are strengthening our regional presence in the promising market of China and aiming overall at a leading market position in Asia/Pacific,” said Dr. Harald Eggers, Memory Products Group CEO at Infineon Technologies AG. “At the same time the partnership with SMIC will enable us to grow our DRAM business without having to invest in production facilities.”

“We are pleased that Infineon selected SMIC to be its foundry partner in China,” said Dr. Richard Chang, President and CEO of SMIC. “SMIC’s dedicated quality foundry service will provide a win-win business and financial solution as the semiconductor industry moves towards greater outsourcing of production.”

The increase in capacity from SMIC will help to bolster output from Infineon’s international cluster of DRAM production sites, which comprise the company-owned production facilities in Dresden, Germany, and Richmond, Virginia (USA), plants in Taiwan operated by Winbond, and the recently announced production joint venture with Nanya, among others. This concept of integrating Infineon’s memory plants into a global network ensures uniform and high levels of quality at all sites worldwide and a constant exchange of know-how and experience.

About Infineon


Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions for the automotive and industrial sectors, for applications in the wired communications markets, secure mobile solutions 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 fiscal year 2002 (ending September), the company achieved sales of Euro 5.21 billion with about 30,400 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 SMIC


SMIC is the first pure-play advanced IC foundry in China to achieve volume production for 8-inch wafers at 0.25-µm and below technologies. The foundry provides customers with a full range of services that include: design services, mask manufacturing, wafer fabrication as well as testing capabilities. For more information, please visit www.smics.com

Media contacts: SMIC
Ms Sarina Huang, Public Relations
Tel: +86 21 5080 2000 x 10356
Fax: +86 21 5080 2868
E-mail: Sarina_Huang@smics.com

Information Number

INFXX200212.026e