Posted: September 29, 2009
Dallas Business Journal - by By Jeff Bounds and Kerri Panchuk Staff writers
After nearly five years of waiting, Richardson will see the opening of a 1.1-million-square-foot chip-manufacturing plant from Texas Instruments Inc. that will eventually employ up to 1,000 people.
The plant's October launch was announced by officials of Dallas-based TI Tuesday morning.
TI broke ground on the plant in 2004, but the building sat unused for years while TI waited for the right time to open it. That time has come, company officials say.
"We're seeing increased demand for the high-performance analog (chips) that this (facility) will be manufacturing," said Kim Morgan, a TI spokesperson, in an interview with the Dallas Business Journal. "Just like you can't predict downturns, you can't predict upturns ... Opening the facility now will position us for future growth."
The plant is the first chip-manufacturing plant to open in the U.S. since 1996, and is the first globally to use 300-millimeter silicon wafers to manufacture analog chips. Chips are built on, and cut from, silicon wafers, most of which are currently 200 millimeters.
"We can fit more chips onto a wafer," Morgan said. "The more chips you fit on a wafer," she added, the lower the cost and greater the efficiency in making them.
The Richardson RFAB manufacturing facility plans to ship its first round of chips from the new location by the end of 2010, TI said in a statement.
Once the company’s first phase of equipment is up and running, Texas Instruments expects it will be able to ship more than $1 billion worth of analog chips annually. TI has only 13% of the roughly $35 billion to $36 billion market for analog chips, although officials view that as an opportunity for the business to grow.
The need to create more chips at once inspired Texas Instruments to begin pursuing the development of the plant several years ago.
“The time is right for this investment,” said Rich Templeton, the company’s chairman, president and CEO. “Customer demand for analog chips is growing, and there’s tremendous desire to save energy and protect the environment. The chips produced here will help our customers make thousands of electronic products that are more energy-efficient. It is significant that these devices will be made here, in North Texas, in one of the industry’s most environmentally responsible fabs.”
TI’s (NYSE: TXN) chips are used in electronic devices such as smartphones, Netbooks and computer systems. The company said Tuesday it will immediately begin hiring 250 people to fill positions at RFAB.
“These are high-quality, well-paying engineering, manufacturing and administrative jobs for our North Texas region," Templeton said in a statement. "The infrastructure that a facility like this requires will create other indirect jobs with suppliers and support services."
From the onset of the project, Texas Instruments has been working with community and state officials to include the University of Texas at Dallas as a strategic educational partner. Under the original agreement for the manufacturing facility, it was decided UTD would receive $300 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund, the UT System, and private donors to improve its engineering and research programs.
Original article here
