Fairchild Imaging teams with Supertex for enhanced CCD fabrication

March 28, 2007
MARCH 28--Fairchild Imaging (Milpitas, CA, USA; www.fairchildimaging.com), a developer of CCD and CMOS image sensors and cameras, has entered into a strategic teaming relationship with Supertex, a publicly held mixed-signal semiconductor manufacturer (www.supertex.com), for custom foundry services.

MARCH 28--Fairchild Imaging (Milpitas, CA, USA; www.fairchildimaging.com), a developer of CCD and CMOS image sensors and cameras, has entered into a strategic teaming relationship with Supertex, a publicly held mixed-signal semiconductor manufacturer (www.supertex.com), for custom foundry services. The multiyear agreement strengthens Fairchild Imaging's position in the high-performance imaging market by combining Supertex's specialty foundry with Fairchild Imaging's team of image-sensor designers.

The strategic agreement for foundry services further transitions Fairchild Imaging from an integrated device manufacturer to a fabless semiconductor model. Fairchild Imaging began the transition in 2003 when it recognized the need to balance its portfolio with both CCD and CMOS image sensors to allow the company to deliver the right imaging technology with the best value to the marketplace.

Supertex has licensed Fairchild Imaging's intellectual property for the manufacture of large-area CCD imagers, and the two companies have established a close working relationship to rapidly deliver these devices to the marketplace.

"Supertex's license of our processes and knowhow allows us to bring the next generation of wafer-scale CCDs to the performance imaging market. Its 150-mm
fab line uses many of the same tools as our own fab, and this, combined with its close proximity, has facilitated a very natural and effective partnership," noted Fairchild Imaging president and CEO Charles J. Arduini.

"Fairchild Imaging's CCD design expertise and strong presence in aerospace, defense, medical, and scientific imaging is synergistic with Supertex's imaging and medical business focus, and the large size of its imagers combined with its volume will be an excellent contribution to our capacity utilization," stated Supertex president and CEO Henry C. Pao.

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