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Linear Technology to Open New Plant in Malaysia

November 12, 2000 by Jeff Shepard

Linear Technology Corp. (Milpitas, CA) plans to open a circuit design plant in Penang, which will be its second facility in Malaysia. Robert H. Swanson Jr., chairman and CEO, said the company was currently in discussion with the Penang Development Corp. on the matter.

Linear Semiconductor's second phase will cost $7.9 million. The buildings will occupy 7,020 square meters and will provide space for continued growth of the highly automated assembly facility, allowing for the introduction of new processes and package types.

"Circuit designing is the heart of our company and we make our profits more on intellectual property than from our manufacturing. One of the reasons we are quite certain that it can be done is because we already have a successful center in Singapore," Swanson commented at the opening of Linear Semiconductor Sdn Bhd's phase two project recently.

Swanson said the company also plans to expand through a third phase in Penang by the end of the year, with an additional area of 7,199 square meters. The company's first facility currently performs wafer sorting on 90 percent of its wafers, and assembles over 60 percent of its plastic encapsulated devices.

Greg Nelson, managing director of Linear Semiconductor, mentioned that the company

would be installing $1.58 million of equipment in the Penang plant.