RFMD achieves qualification for 6-inch fab
"The migration to 6-inch manufacturing represents the realization of a major initiative launched by RF Micro Devices to reduce manufacturing costs,” said Curt Barratt, division VP of wafer fab. “Notably, the conversion to 6-inch wafers will more than double the number of die per wafer without a significant increase in processing cost per wafer. Just as increased diameter wafers have been shown to reduce costs in the silicon industry, our GaAs manufacturing will benefit from the lower production costs available from six-inch GaAs wafers.”
RFMD’s 6-inch production began at its second fab in Greensboro, NC, in the March 2003 quarter after a conversion from 4-inch processing which began in late 2002. The company’s first fab, which still handles 4 inch wafers, is operating close to its capacity of 60,000 wafers per year.
“As the demand for modules increases and as module products become more highly integrated, we expect that the percentage of our products’ bill of materials (BOM) represented by our GaAs HBT process technology will continue to grow,” said Barrat. “By reducing the costs of our GaAs HBT process technology, we expect to favorably impact gross profit margins across multiple, high-running GaAs HBT-based products.”
