Product category: Analogue and Mixed Signal ICs
News Release from: National Semiconductor
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 19 October 2004
First Chinese plant opens for business
National Semiconductor has officially opened its first manufacturing plant in China, an assembly and test facility in Suzhou Industrial Park.
National Semiconductor has officially opened its first manufacturing plant in China, an assembly and test facility in Suzhou Industrial Park Located outside Shanghai, National's newest plant represents 400 high-tech jobs for the local economy
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 5 Jan 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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National is now shipping products from its Suzhou facility to customers in China and around the world.
For National's customers in China and other regions, the plant also reinforces National's commitment to deliver best-in-class analogue technology for an expanding range of consumer devices, including mobile phones, displays, large screen LCD TVs, automobiles, notebooks and PCs.
"This is a great strategic opportunity for National to build its business in China and integrate our manufacturing operations into the world's fastest-growing semiconductor market", said Brian L Halla, National's Chairman, President and CEO.
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"We are also pleased that, with the help of local government and business leaders, we are able to deliver a world-class manufacturing facility in Suzhou Industrial Park in such a short time".
The 52,000m2 plant allows National to expand its capacity for assembling and testing semiconductors complementing existing assembly and test plants in Malaysia and Singapore.
The Suzhou plant is the most visible symbol of National's growing presence in China.
But the company's investment in China - the world's fastest growing electronics super market and manufacturing base - dates back to 1994, when the company established an office in Beijing.
Since the mid-1990s, National has opened sales offices in Shanghai and Shenzhen to accommodate the growing demand for analogue chips from Chinese customers, including Foxconn, Huawei, Haier and many others.
Although focused on sales, the company is also investing in design and university partnerships in China.
In September 2003, National unveiled a joint analogue and mixed-signal integrated circuit (IC) laboratory with Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, south of Shanghai.
The laboratory has more than 20 professors and students working on analogue and mixed-signal IC designs with a focus on power management.
Power management ICs are increasingly important components for electronic devices - such as camera cellphones - that require extremely high power efficiency to handle a host of features that are integrated into smaller and smaller consumer packages.
National intends to invest $200 million in the facility.
After a ground-breaking ceremony in November 2002, construction began in earnest in January 2003.
Fifteen months later, with construction complete, the company started hiring its first operation employees.
Suzhou shipped its first finished products to customers in July 2004.
"We launched this project with a few picks and shovels and site surveys 26 months ago on a bare plot of land".
"Today, those many months of work are paying dividends, enabling us to ship the world's most sophisticated analogue technology to National's customers around the world".
"This is a landmark achievement for National Semiconductor, our employees, and the proud people of Suzhou", Halla said.
The site includes three buildings and is located about 80km west of Shanghai.
National acquired a total land plot of 146,000m2, which is sufficient to expand on the site when more capacity is required.
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