Microelectronics: Semiconductor producer Vishay announces major investment

Itzehoe. The semiconductor manufacturer Vishay has announced that it will invest a “high three-digit million amount” in its production facility in Schleswig-Holstein. The company did not disclose the exact amount. According to the economic policy spokesman for the CDU parliamentary group, Andreas Hein, it is around one billion euros.

Schleswig-Holstein's Economics Minister Claus Ruhe Madsen (CDU) presented a funding notice of around 215 million euros for the location in Itzehoe. The German subsidiary of the US manufacturer will in future produce semiconductor wafers with a diameter of 300 millimeters in another factory. According to the company, up to 250 new jobs will be created at the site despite automated production processes.

Chips and semiconductor components are made from such semiconductor wafers made of silicon, the so-called wafers. To date, Vishay has produced conventional 200-millimeter discs in Itzehoe. The advantage of producing larger wafers is that more chips and components can be produced per wafer.