TI forms second joint venture in Thailand

Electronic News, May 20, 1996 by Crista Hardie

Bangkok, Thailand--Planting deeper roots in Thailand's emerging electronics community, Texas Instruments formed a manufacturing joint venture company with Charn Uswachoke--TI's second venture in six months with the prominent Bangkok-based entrepreneur. TI-Acer, the dynamic random access memory (DRAM) joint venture between TI and Taiwan-based Acer, Inc., will also be a partner.

TI will own 33 percent of the joint venture company, and Mr. Uswachoke will have a 51 percent stake. The remaining 16 percent will be held by TI-Acer.

The new company, called Alpha Memory Co. Ltd, will assemble and test dynamic random access memories (DRAMs) and other metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) memory devices for the TI-Acer 16-megabit DRAM facility in Taipei, Taiwan and at other TI memory manufacturing facilities, as well as offload some production from TI's Singapore test and assembly facility, a spokesman said.

Construction of the $200 million (5 billion baht) Alpha Memory facility will begin in early June, with initial production expected in the second half of 1997. During phase one, the facility will employ more than 1,000 people and be able to produce 150 million units per year, with room for expansion at a later date. A technology transfer team from TI will be supporting the start up operations, the company said.

Thailand is seen as a prime market for semiconductor companies, with a projected $2 billion electronics market by the end of the decade. According to a TI spokesman, "The Asian region, as a whole, has shifted from being an off-shore manufacturing center to being a strong, fast-growing market itself. We think Thailand will follow a similar pattern and we want to get in on the ground floor."

Charn Uswachoke has been a key factor in sparking interest in the region. As chairman/CEO of the Alphatec Group, an umbrella for a number of electronics-oriented firms, he is increasingly recognized in Asia and throughout the industry. His SubMicron Technology was the first company to build a wafer factory in Thailand.

TI has a long-standing relationship with Mr. Uswachoke, whose Alphatec Electronics provides subcontract assembly and test services for TI's Singapore operation. But the two first partnered formally last year when they formed Alpha-TI Semiconductor Company, the second wafer manufacturing venture to be established in Thailand. Alpha-TI broke ground in December on a $1.2 billion wafer factory for 16- and 64-megabit DRAM chips. Initial production from that project is expected in 2Q97 (EN, Dec. 18, 1995).