Cypress Semiconductor Corp. and Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (Grace) have entered into a strategic foundry partnership. Under terms of the agreement, Cypress will transfer its Programmable System-on-Chip (SoC) (PSoC)) mixed signal array, CMOS image sensor, WirelessUSB, and PC clock process technologies to Grace and in turn receive preferential volume access to Grace's foundry capacity. The increase in capacity will augment output from Cypress's production facilities in Bloomington, Minn., and Round Rock, Texas, supporting Cypress's products used in consumer and computation devices.
T.J. Rodgers, president and CEO of Cypress, said, ˇ°This agreement marks our first step in the implementation of a new flexible manufacturing strategy that will enable Cypress to leverage its proprietary process technologies while achieving significant foundry capacity to support the rapid growth of our leading products. In addition, we will be able to decrease the ongoing capital requirements needed to support our growth needs while maintaining a consistently high level of utilization in our own fabs—making this a winning strategy for our customers, our shareholders and Grace.ˇ±
It is said that qualification of the first product is scheduled for the beginning of the third quarter of 2006 in Grace's 8-inch facility in Shanghai. Grace will start production with the PSoC mixed-signal array on Cypress's proprietary S4 technology. Following the ramp-up at Grace, Cypress expects to increase its overall capacity by an additional 15,000 wafer starts per month by the fourth quarter of 2007.
Dong Yeshun, president and CEO, Grace, stated, ˇ°Cypress's selection of Grace is a clear recognition of our foundry model and technical expertise to develop long-term synergistic partnerships that generate added value and maximize our partner's competitive advantages. We are strongly committed to providing Cypress with state-of-the-art facilities to support the increasing demand for its products and provide the capacity to meet its future growth needs.ˇ±
Cypress
