News: Microelectronics
28 November 2024
Vishay investing £51m in Newport Wafer Fab
Discrete semiconductor and passive electronic component maker Vishay Intertechnology Inc of Malvern, PA, USA is investing £51m in Newport Wafer Fab in South Wales (the UK’s largest semiconductor wafer fabrication facility, which it acquired from Nexperia in March for $177m, or about £142m), bringing new product range capabilities and skilled job opportunities to what is now Newport Vishay.
The investment has been supported by £5m in funding from the Welsh Government, which cites other recent progress in the South Wales compound semiconductor cluster including:
- US-owned KLA is constructing its new European headquarters at Imperial Park, Newport. With Welsh Government investment in the grid infrastructure at the site, the 215,000ft2, $100m development is creating an innovation centre and manufacturing facility and will include cleanrooms for R&D and manufacturing. Recruitment of up to 750 staff is already underway.
- Centre 7, a facility supported by Welsh Government as part of its International Strategy, is already attracting inward investors, with Microlink Devices and CS Connected the first tenants at the 51,000ft2 Cardiff Gate site.
- a £2.5m Net Zero research project at Swansea University’s Centre for Semiconductor Materials is pioneering the reduction of building emissions for the semiconductor industry and has research agreements with industrial members such as Vishay, which counts a number of Swansea alumni amongst its executives.
- Cardiff University hosted an international technical conference in October on semiconductor power devices, and Wales will welcome an inward mission by Canadian semiconductor companies next Spring.
“Compound semiconductors are all around us – in our homes and in our phones, our trains and our turbines. They are a vital, if miniature, piece of what makes the modern world tick, with extremely strong global growth projections. And we in Wales are increasingly a world-leading nation in their production and manufacture,” states Rebecca Evans, the Welsh Government’s Economy, Energy and Planning Cabinet Secretary. “Today that is more evident than ever, with our international reputation attracting significant inward investment, the provision and occupation of state-of-the-art facilities, clear links with R&D, and well-paid opportunities for employment and apprenticeships,” she adds. “We are now, after a decade of seeding the cluster, reaping the rewards of our commitment, which we will continue to drive forward.”
Vishay selects Aixtron’s G10-SiC multi-wafer batch technology
Vishay completes acquisition of Nexperia’s Newport Wafer Fab following UK Government approval
