Infineon Integrated Circuits opens in China

Infineon Technologies AG today opened a new facility in China called Infineon Integrated Circuits (Beijing) Co., Ltd., located in the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Area. In addition to sales and marketing, application R&D and central functions, the new entity houses an IGBT stack manufacturing facility and a technical center for automotive solutions. IGBTs (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors) are power semiconductors used to drive electric motors both in automotive applications and in trains. Motor speed and torque can be regulated along a gradual scale. They also play an important role in the use of renewable energies: here IGBTs enable the efficient conversion of variable frequency output such as from a wind turbine or solar plant to a fixed frequency appropriate for the grid in the region concerned. "Global energy demand is constantly increasing, particularly in emerging markets like China, one of the most important and fastest growing strategic markets for Infineon," said Peter Bauer, CEO of Infineon Technologies AG. “Infineon has dedicated many years to develop state-of-the-art semiconductor solutions. This new entity will enable us to raise our output to meet the extremely expanding demand especially for energy efficiency and electromobility solutions in China and brings us closer to our customers in this region.” China plans to invest around 700 billion US dollars until 2020 in renewable energy projects and expects to expand the high-speed rail network from today’s 7,500 to 13,000 kilometers by 2012. Infineon is engaged in many wind and solar power as well as high-speed train projects in China with its semiconductor solutions. According to the government's blueprint, China's railway network will serve more than 90 percent of the population by 2020, with 16,000 kilometers of new lines. Furthermore, the Chinese government intends to make individual mobility more sustainable, investing in electric and hybrid cars. From 2020 onwards, one million hybrid and electric cars are planned to leave the assembly line in Chinese plants every year. The new Infineon entity in Beijing will support all three Infineon business segments Automotive, Industrial & Multimarket as well as Chip Card & Security. Today, Infineon develops, produces and markets innovative semiconductor solutions at several locations in China with around 1.700 employees serving the energy efficiency, mobility and security needs of the global and the Chinese market. Beijing Economic and Technological Development Area is a state-level economic and technological development zone in Beijing, China. It is located in the Yizhuang district with convenient transport links and advanced infrastructure. Key industries in the zone include electronic products, pharmaceuticals, information technology, mechanical engineering and materials research.