Bosch has announced a $467 million investment in three of its chip making facilities. Two of the supplier's factories that will receive the investment are in Germany, while the other is in Penang, Malaysia. The investment is meant to increase production capacity to deal with the global chip shortage.
Earlier this year, Bosch opened a chip manufacturing facility in Dresden, Germany, which was the result of a $1.2 billion (EUR 1 billion) investment. The same factory will get a sizeable chunk of the investment to enable a boost in production capacity. Back in June, that facility was the biggest single investment in company history.
The Bosch facility in Dresden makes 300-millimeter wafers, which yields more individual chips per wafer once they are processed. The German supplier has committed to this investment as a response to the global chip shortage, which affects the company both as a supplier and as a manufacturer of consumer electronics and power tools.
Another part of the massive investment announced by the German giant will be spent in Penang, Malaysia, where Bosch will build a new semiconductor test center. The latter will be ready for operation in 2023, where it will function on a 14,000 square meter (ca. 150,696 square feet) space. Bosch is future-proof in the area, as it owns a 100,000 square-meter (ca. 1,076,391 sq ft) lot, which it plans to expand on later.
Bosch will also invest 50 million euros (ca. $57 million) in Reutlingen, Germany, in the next two years. Reutlingen has been the home of a semiconductor production facility since 1970, and the company will expand its “clean room” area. The latter refers to a specialized environment meant to be dust free, as well as free from other contaminants.
As Bosch explains, the “clean room” is the place where the silicon wafers are turned into semiconductor chips. The planned expansion, which is estimated at 4,000 square meters (ca. ca. 43,056 sq ft), will take the designated space to a total of 14,500 square meters (ca. 156,077 sq ft).
The Bosch facility in Dresden makes 300-millimeter wafers, which yields more individual chips per wafer once they are processed. The German supplier has committed to this investment as a response to the global chip shortage, which affects the company both as a supplier and as a manufacturer of consumer electronics and power tools.
Another part of the massive investment announced by the German giant will be spent in Penang, Malaysia, where Bosch will build a new semiconductor test center. The latter will be ready for operation in 2023, where it will function on a 14,000 square meter (ca. 150,696 square feet) space. Bosch is future-proof in the area, as it owns a 100,000 square-meter (ca. 1,076,391 sq ft) lot, which it plans to expand on later.
Bosch will also invest 50 million euros (ca. $57 million) in Reutlingen, Germany, in the next two years. Reutlingen has been the home of a semiconductor production facility since 1970, and the company will expand its “clean room” area. The latter refers to a specialized environment meant to be dust free, as well as free from other contaminants.
As Bosch explains, the “clean room” is the place where the silicon wafers are turned into semiconductor chips. The planned expansion, which is estimated at 4,000 square meters (ca. ca. 43,056 sq ft), will take the designated space to a total of 14,500 square meters (ca. 156,077 sq ft).