Top Five
Semiconductor Company In North America
Expands Development Center In Williston
...Presents
Job Growth Plan To Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy On Site
(NOTE:
This press release was authored and distributed by Infineon)
Williston, VT – December 12, 2003 –
Infineon Technologies (FSE/NYSE: IFX), the world’s sixth largest
semiconductor manufacturer*, celebrated the expansion of its
Williston development center today by announcing that it will
increase its workforce by 40 percent to 100 employees and invest $10
million in the facility by the end of 2004. Presenting its job
growth plans today in a briefing for Senator Patrick Leahy, Infineon
applauded the continuous support it has received from Senator Leahy
and the help from Vermont state officials for its business
initiatives in the state, which are an important part to implement
the company’s strategic growth plan for North America.
“The interest and support of Senator
Leahy and officials from the state government are a clear sign that
we made the right choice when we picked Vermont as a key site for
advanced semiconductor research and development,” said Robert LeFort,
president of Infineon Technologies North America Corp. “The
expansion of the Design Center will further strengthen Infineon’s
innovative capabilities, with particular focus on broadening our
portfolio of memory products for mobile communication applications
such as smart phones, pocket PCs, PDAs and digital cameras, which is
one of the fastest growing segments of the industry.”
Infineon, which is now ranked as the
third largest supplier of memory chips worldwide, opened the
Williston Memory Design Center in 2001 with 15 employees. The
facility now employs 70 highly skilled research and development
engineers and is one of three Infineon sites worldwide working on
advanced computer memory chips. In addition to the job increase the
company plans a total investment level of $19 million by the end of
2004 for Williston.
“Williston already has proven to be an
excellent research and development site for high performance
standard memory chips. With this expansion, the site becomes the
center of development for CellularRAM, a new type of standard memory
technology that will improve the capabilities of mobile phones and
other battery-powered portable devices. This program will help
Infineon strengthen its global cost and technology leadership
position in the highly competitive DRAM market,” added Frank
Gelsdorf, head of the design center.
Background
Infineon Technologies’ products add
chip-based intelligence to thousands of digital devices that people
use every day. From automobiles and industrial machinery, to wired
and wireless communications, computer memories and other advanced
applications, Infineon solutions power electronic products that are
a part of 21st century lifestyles.
Ranked as the world’s sixth largest
semiconductor manufacturer in 2003 and the number five supplier in
North America for the first six months of 2003, Infineon is
headquartered in Munich, Germany. The
company’s U.S. sales grew by 39 percent
to $ 1.6 billion in fiscal year 2003 compared to the previous fiscal
year. Infineon’s commitment to North America is backed by an
expanding presence in the United States, where its subsidiaries
employ a total of nearly 2,800 people. Infineon recently opened an
Eastern U.S. business operations center in North Carolina, and now
has seven development centers and operational offices, with
locations in San Jose, California; Williston, Vermont; Cary, North
Carolina; the Hudson River Valley Corridor of New York; Longmont,
Colorado, Morgan Hill, California; and Princeton, New Jersey.
Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers semiconductor and
system solutions for the automotive and industrial sectors, for
applications in the wired communications markets, secure mobile
solutions as well as memory products. With a global presence,
Infineon operates in the US from San Jose, CA, in the Asia-Pacific
region from Singapore and in Japan from Tokyo. In fiscal year 2003
(ending September 2003), the company achieved sales of approximately
$ 7.1 billion (Euro 6.15 billion) with about 32,300 employees
worldwide. Infineon is listed on the DAX index of the Frankfurt
Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol:
IFX). Further information is available at
www.infineon.com.
# # # # #
* Based on 2003 sales estimates, as reported by iSuppli Corp.
