Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體), the world’s biggest chip packager, said yesterday it had signed a memorandum of understanding with US chipmaker Spansion Inc to form a chip testing and packaging venture in Suzhou, China.
The deal is ASE’s latest strategic alliance with chipmakers after forming a joint venture with NXP Semiconductor in Suzhou in a bid to boost growth by taking over factories owned by its partners, who hope to cut costs.
“This joint venture will enable ASE to expand its role in the rapidly growing flash memory segment,” ASE chairman Jason Chang (張虔生) said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
‘EXCITED’
“We are excited to see more and more semiconductor companies adopt the asset-light strategy, which leads to the acceleration of outsourcing demand. ASE is well prepared to capitalize on this industry trend and embrace these opportunities.”
The joint venture with Spansion may represent a new growth driver for ASE, which makes a minimal portion of its revenues by providing testing and packaging services for flash memory chipmakers, ASE said.
“The joint venture will broaden ASE’s product line-up. ASE will be able to provide extensive chip testing and packaging services for customers,” the company said in the filing.
ASE may invest US$100 million in the joint venture, including buying a share of a Suzhou plant owned by Spansion, company spokesman Freddie Liu (劉詩亮) told the Taipei Times.
The financial details are not finalized, Liu said. ASE hopes to close the deal by the end of the year, he said.
ASE will obtain a contract from Spansion to provide chip testing and packaging services for the US company in the next few years at the Suzhou factory, the statement said.
CUSTOMER BASE
“Through our partnership with ASE, the Spansion Suzhou facility is expected to serve a broader customer base, which should result in lower costs through greater economies of scale and increased utilization,” Spansion chief executive Bertrand Cambou said in the statement.
Spansion employs about 1,100 employees at its Suzhou factory, which is the flagship factory in the firm’s final manufacturing network. It opened in 1998.
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