SHANGHAI, China, and ARMONK, N.Y., Dec. 26 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation ("SMIC", NYSE: SMI and SEHK: 0981.HK) and International Business Machines today announced that they have signed an agreement to license IBM's 45-nanometer bulk complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology to SMIC for 300mm wafer foundry service.
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Under the agreement, IBM will license bulk CMOS technology to SMIC. The technology can be used to fabricate devices in mobile applications such as handsets integrated with 3G, multimedia, graphics chips, and chipsets at the 45nm technology node. The technology can also support the manufacturing of graphics and other consumer devices.
"China is a rapidly growing, strategic marketplace and SMIC is the largest Chinese foundry," said Kevin Hutchings, vice president of IP Licensing for IBM.
"We are excited about the SMIC-IBM licensing partnership, which will accelerate SMIC technology advancement in logic process technology and help us provide optimal solutions for our customers at our 300mm facilities," said Matthew Szymanski, vice president of Corporate Relations for SMIC. "Coupled with IBM's expertise on design enabler and system IP comprehension, SMIC can transition our fabless customers to system-on-chip (SOC) design for the 45nm node era," said Szymanski.
The licensing agreement with IBM is part of SMIC's commitment to further strengthen its leading foundry position in China to serve customers in high growth market sectors around the world. This agreement complements SMIC's ongoing research and development progress, including its 65nm low-power technology, which is under customer product qualification.
About IBM
For further information about IBM Microelectronics, visit http://www.ibm.com/chips/
About SMIC
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation ("SMIC"; NYSE: SMI; SEHK: 981) is one of the leading semiconductor foundries in the world and the largest and most advanced foundry in Mainland China, providing integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing service at 0.35um to 65nm and finer line technologies. Headquartered in Shanghai, China, SMIC has a 300mm wafer fabrication facility (fab) under pilot production and three 200mm wafer fabs in its Shanghai mega-fab, two 300mm wafer fabs in its Beijing mega-fab, a 200mm wafer fab in Tianjin, and an in-house assembly and testing facility in Chengdu. SMIC also has customer service and marketing offices in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, and a representative office in Hong Kong. In addition, SMIC manages and operates a 200mm wafer fab in Chengdu owned by Cension Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation and a 300mm wafer fab under construction in Wuhan owned by Wuhan Xinxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation. For more information, please visit http://www.smics.com
Safe Harbor Statements for SMIC
(Under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995)
Information provided in this press release may contain statements relating to current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about future events that are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements generally relate to the company's plans, objectives and expectations for future operations and are based upon management's current estimates and projections of future results or trends. Actual future results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F filed on June 29, 2007 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
