Friday, September 17th 2021
Infineon's New 300 mm Fab Opens Three Months Ahead of Schedule
Finally some good news from the semiconductor industry, Infineon has announced the opening of its new €1.6 billion, 300 mm, or 12-inch wafer semiconductor factory. That said, we're somewhat confused with the press release, as it states that "the chips are manufactured on 300-millimeter thin wafers, which at 40 micrometers are thinner than a human hair" and that Infineon is a "global pioneer in 300-millimeter thin-wafer technology". This is why you need someone to proofread press releases before distributing them.
Anyhow, back on topic. The fab has nearly 60,000 square meters of gross floor space and production will be ramped up over the next four to five years, so it's not going to alleviate the current chip shortage any time soon. The fab is located in Villach, Austria and has taken three years to build. The first wafers produced in the fab are said to be leaving it this week and although Infineon didn't specify what chips they'll end up as, the fab is set up to initially cater for the automotive industry, data centers and the renewable energy industry.
Infineon is expecting the new fab to generate a potential yearly sales revenue of around two billion euros per year, while at the same time generate an additional 400 jobs in the region, of which two thirds have already been hired. The fab is said to be recycling waste heat from the cooling systems, which can provide as much as 80 percent of the heating needs for the fab during the colder months of the year. In addition to this, Infineon is expecting to be producing all hydrogen needed for the production on site, starting next year. It sure sounds like an impressive facility and one that's needed to say the least.
Source:
Infineon
Anyhow, back on topic. The fab has nearly 60,000 square meters of gross floor space and production will be ramped up over the next four to five years, so it's not going to alleviate the current chip shortage any time soon. The fab is located in Villach, Austria and has taken three years to build. The first wafers produced in the fab are said to be leaving it this week and although Infineon didn't specify what chips they'll end up as, the fab is set up to initially cater for the automotive industry, data centers and the renewable energy industry.
21 Comments on Infineon's New 300 mm Fab Opens Three Months Ahead of Schedule
Nice press release. :p
There are still operation costs to account for and the taxes that will eat away at the remaining profit.
Škoda will shut down in the end of September because of the lack of chips from Malaysia.
Toyota shutted down already earlier this week.
Hyundai seems be OK.
- Emissions legal in any part of the world developed enough to have emissions regulations
- Even remotely acceptable fuel economy
- Serviceable let alone competitive performance
And I don't think major automakers have even produced a single automatic transmission in the past 5 years that isn't partially or entirely electronically controlled (or functions in the absence of a TCM), so even with this hypothetical engine this car wouldn't go anywhere.From what i was told, all of the US manufacturers are doing the same to keep as many people working as possible.
Stockpile of Unfinished Ford Super Duty Pickups Missing Chips Is Now Visible from Space (thedrive.com)
80% of the lot is some of the most barebones, Oxford White, XL or XLT, F-250/350 box-on-four-wheels stuff you can still buy these days, so probably all of Ford's other models are feeling the pinch equally. Though then again, it's been 4 months since then, and despite all the complaining I saw quite a few [real] 2021 Broncos on the road this week, so maybe things are getting better.
The lack of semiconductor manufacturing in Europe
OMG people still buy LADA's well shame on them ha.
He still drives a rust-bucket VAZ 2101, and constantly bugs me about adding more trinkets to it. He already made an automatic switch for his 2nd gen LPG/gasoline system (before he used to look at thermosenosor and manually flip a switch whenever it was ready), later he added an alarm and power windows.
Thank god he's busy at work right now, cause last time he visited in my workshop, he wanted me to make one of those ghetto-rigged arduino-based "ECUs" which will tie up all the crap he already has in it, along with few sensors and servos.
It is not pringles.
Thank you