Semiconductor Manufacturing Begins Operations At Its Shenzhen 200mm Wafer Fab

(RTTNews) - Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. or SMIC (SMI), an advanced pure-play foundry provider in China, said it has begun operations at its Shenzhen 200 mm wafer fab.

This fab is the first 8-inch production line to be put into operation in Southern China. It is also the first domestic IC production line to be launched after the 'National Outline of Promoting the Development of IC Industry' was issued this year.

SMIC said the current growth of mobile communication devices and new applications such as IoT have created a large market demand that existing 8-inch capacity cannot meet. The company's investment in the Shenzhen fab's equipment and technology addresses this capacity shortage.

The fab is planned to reach an installed capacity of 10,000 wafers per month, by the end of this year. By the end of 2015, it will reach 20,000 wafers per month, and will continue to expand its capacity to meet the growing demand.

The wafer production will mainly be applied to image sensors, logic circuits, power management IC and other consumer and communication electronics.