Panasonic turns fablite and TowerJazz a bigger foundry player

The Japan's leading consumer electronics joint Panasonic has signed definitive agreement with the Israel-based semiconductor foundry service provider TowerJazz to form Joint Venture to own and manage some of the important semiconductor fabrication facilities of Panasonic. TowerJazz to acquire 3 Panasonic semiconductor Factories in Japan. This results into a semiconductor foundry services expansion in the areas beyond deep node logic ICs. TowerJazz says its revenues are expected to increase approximately by $400 million a year, through this transaction. TowerJazz to own 51% of the joint venture resulting in availability of additional capacity of approximately 800,000 wafers per year (8 inch equivalent) in three manufacturing facilities in Japan. Panasonic has committed to buy the chips/devices made at these joint venture facilities for a period of at least 5 years of volume production. TowerJazz said it will add to its capacity a 300 mm analog semiconductor chip fab including best of class 65nm CMOS image sensor dark current and quantum efficiency performance and additional 45 nm digital technology. Within the scope of the JV, Panasonic will transfer its semiconductor manufacturing process and capacity tools of 8 inch and 12 inch wafers at its Hokuriku factories (Uozu, Tonami and Arai) to the JV. TowerJazz said it will rationalize its Japanese business, ...