Matsushita starts second chip factory in China

TOKYO (AFP) Apr 10, 2003
Japanese consumer electronics giant Matsushita said Thursday it has opened a second semiconductor factory in China due to growing demand from firms there that make electronic products such as mobile phones.

Suzhou Matsushita Semiconductor Co. Ltd. (SMSC) in Jiangsu Province, eastern China, will produce and sell thin and small transister-like chips, called super miniaturized discrete surface mounted devices, said spokesman Akira Kadota.

"SMSC will start making 70 million units per month to begin with. By March 2005, we plan to increase the production level to 200 million units per month," said the spokesman for Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd., better known through its Panasonic and National brands.

The products will be sold mainly in China, but Matsushita hopes to explore business opportunities in member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the future, according to Kadota.

The firm launched its first Chinese chip factory in Shanghai in 1994.

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