Siltronic celebrates 20th anniversary oft he Hikari site in Japan
This October, the wafer manufacturer Siltronic AG, Munich, celebrates the 20th anniversary of its Hikari-based wholly-owned subsidiary Siltronic Japan Corporation. In a joint venture with Nippon Steel in 2000, WACKER SILTRONIC acquired a 55 percent share in NSC Electron Corporation (NSCE), and purchased the remaining 45 percent in 2003. NSCE was renamed into Siltronic Japan Corporation in January 2004. Siltronic Japan is an important pillar of the Siltronic Group in the innovative wafer market.
Addressing over 100 customers and business partners in Tokyo, Dr. Wilhelm Sittenthaler, President and CEO of Siltronic AG, underscored Japan’s strategic importance: “Japan is one of the most challenging semiconductor markets. Innovation and trendsetting characterize the Japanese electronic sector, with implications for the semi and wafer business. 20 years of Siltronic Japan Corporation show that we are facing this challenge. Through its strong presence in Japan, Siltronic is securing its technology leadership in the manufacturing of silicon wafers.”
Hikari, in the southwestern part of Honchu, is the location of one of Siltronic’s five global production sites. The Japanese site comprises two production lines for manufacturing 200 and 300 mm silicon wafers. Siltronic also produces 200 mm SOI wafers based on SIMOX technology here. Hikari is also one of Siltronic’s two R&D centers and the competence center for strained silicon. Our sales organization has sales offices in Tokyo and Osaka. The Siltronic Group made sales of 814 million euros in 2004, and currently employs 5,800 people worldwide. About 14 percent of sales were made in Japan, where it has 640 employees.
Siltronic Japan Corporation was founded in 1985 as NSC Electron Corporation (NSCE). In 1986, it built the plants for 125 and 150 mm wafer manufacturing. Production started in April 1987. With the acquisition of 55 percent of NSCE, a joint venture between WACKER SILTRONIC and Nippon Steel was established in November 2000. The company was renamed Wacker-NSCE Corporation. After the acquisition of the remaining 45 percent from Nippon Steel in September 2003 the company was renamed into Siltronic Japan Corporation in January 2004.
Company profile
Siltronic is a global leader in the market for ultra-pure silicon wafers and the partner of numerous leading chip manufacturers. Siltronic develops and manufactures wafers with diameters of up to 300 mm at production sites in Europe, Asia, Japan and the United States.
Silicon wafers form the heart of modern micro- and nanoelectronics – for computers, mobile telephones, Internet, DVD players, flat-panel displays, navigation systems, airbags, computer tomography machines, aircraft control systems and many more applications.
