1999-11-30 , ESC-9994
Business News From Philips Semiconductors

Philips Semiconductors adds capacity to its MOS4YOU fab in Nijmegen to meet boom in orders

Philips Semiconductors today opened an Euro 250 million (approximately US$ 250 million) expansion to its MOS4YOU semiconductor manufacturing facility (or fab) in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, bringing the total investment to nearly Euro 1 billion (US$ 1 billion) since the start of MOS4YOU in 1996. As a result of the expansion, the production capacity of MOS4 will increase from 200,000 to 300,000 8" wafers per year.

"This expansion is part of our on-going investment to serve our customers by expanding our capacity with state-of-the-art facilities," explained Stuart McIntosh, Philips Semiconductors' Chief Operations Officer. "We anticipated the timing of the upswing in the semiconductor industry and invested to increase our production capacity at the right time - when our customer demand requested it. MOS4 is our flagship facility and is already processing wafers using our state-of-the-art, 0.18 micron CMOS technology (see accompanying backgrounder). This expansion will enable us to meet our goal of maintaining technology leadership and fulfil the needs of our recently announced Nexperia™ Silicon System Platforms strategy."

Arthur van der Poel, CEO of Philips Semiconductors, added: "Across the board, we are seeing a tremendous increase in demand for our innovative products. Our leading position in the consumer market in TV Text and DVD products, plus our strength in Communications including mobile phones and our strong position in smart cards, have resulted in huge orders for our MOS4 fab."

Philips Semiconductors' facility in Nijmegen is the largest semiconductor manufacturing complex in Europe with five fabs on the site. It is a European centre of excellence for semiconductor manufacturing employing over four thousand skilled process engineers, designers and support staff. In total about 400 new jobs will be created in Nijmegen next year, 200 of which are in new expansion.

Philips Semiconductors is the eighth largest semiconductor supplier in the world according to Dataquest's 1998 market share report. Philips Semiconductors' innovations in digital audio, video and mobile technology place the company in a leadership position in the consumer, multimedia and wireless communications markets. As a global company, offices in 40 countries serve major markets. Philips Semiconductors, headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, is a division of Royal Philips Electronics. Please join us at the Philips Semiconductors website:  http://www.semiconductors.philips.com for further information.

For more information, see also BG9910: Philips Semiconductors offers advanced 0.18 micron CMOS process at MOS4

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is one of the world's biggest electronics companies and Europe's largest, with sales of US$ 33.9 billion in 1998. It is a global leader in color television sets, lighting, electric shavers, color picture tubes for televisions and monitors, and one-chip TV products. Its 230,700 employees in more than 60 countries are active in the areas of lighting, consumer electronics, domestic appliances, components, semiconductors, medical systems, business electronics, and IT services (Origin). Philips is quoted on the NYSE, London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and other stock exchanges. News from Philips is located at  www.news.philips.com