Infineon Technologies expands lead in 300mm technology: new facility at Dresden

Munich, Germany, March 31, 2000 -- Infineon Technologies (NYSE: IFX) today announced the commencement of a 300mm semiconductor module at the existing location in Dresden. Total investments are expected to amount to more than Euro 1 billion over the next three years. This project will create approximately 1,100 new jobs in Dresden. Production activities will be conducted through Infineon Technologies SC300 GmbH & Co. KG, a company in which the State of Saxony as well as M+W Zander, a specialist for the planning and construction of semiconductor plants, will participate. Further details are expected to be announced at the end of May, when official groundbreak will take place. Manufacturing technology developed in cooperation with Motorola in Dresden will be implemented in this new module. Thanks to 300mm technology, Infineon hopes to achieve an early increase in productivity compared with the industry standard.
”Through our outstanding leading position in 300mm technology, we hope to achieve considerable cost savings for Infineon’s semiconductor production and expand our competitive edge in the long-term,” explains Dr. Ulrich Schumacher, President and CEO of Infineon Technologies AG. ”The plant in Dresden has already proven to be an international reference location in our international fab cluster and will provide the best basis for the efficient production of future chip generations.”

Construction activities will begin in the direct vicinity of the existing location. The new 300mm module will create approximately 1,100 new jobs at Infineon, as well as further jobs at supplier companies in the region.

300mm technology has been under development since 1998 in a joint venture with Motorola that has been funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Technology (BMBF) and the State of Saxony. Following the successful start of the Dresden pilot line, both partners made the first breakthrough in this technology in September 1999. Since then, Infineon has been delivering 64Mbit DRAMs based on 300mm wafers to its customers. Using 300mm process technology, Infineon plans to significantly reduce the costs per chip and considers mass production in 300 millimeters to be an important factor for competitive semiconductor production. Approximately two-and-a-half times as many chips can be produced on these larger wafers with this new technology compared with the 200mm technology.

The existing Infineon Technologies plant in Dresden is one of the most modern chip production plants in Europe. Currently, approximately 2,800 employees produce semiconductor components in the high-tech plant, construction of which began in June 1994 and which is now one of the most advanced facilities worldwide. This location delivers the most advanced memory chips and high-value logic components, which Infineon markets successfully throughout the world.

Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers semiconductor solutions for applications in the wireless and wired communications markets, for the automotive and industrial sectors, for security systems and chip cards as well as memory products. With a global presence, Infineon operates in the US from San Jose, CA, and in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore. In the fiscal year 1999 (ending September), the company achieved sales of Euro 4.24 billion (US $ 4.51 billion) with about 26,000 employees worldwide. The company is listed on the main market segment (Amtlicher Handel) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and at the New York Stock Exchange.

Further information at www.infineon.com


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