Atmel Closes Manufacturing Facility in Irving, Texas.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers SAN JOSE San Jose, city, United States San Jose (sănəzā`, săn hōzā`), city (1990 pop. 782,248), seat of Santa Clara co., W central Calif.; founded 1777, inc. 1850. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 23, 2002 Atmel Corporation today announced the closure of its manufacturing facility in Irving Texas, effective immediately. The facility, purchased in 2000 from Hitachi, had employed approximately 300 people at the time of its closure. The move allows Atmel to consolidate its manufacturing activity and reduce costs significantly. The facility will be placed for sale by Atmel. George Perlegos, Atmel's CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. , stated, "While we regret the necessity to close our Irving facility, we are committed to completing our restructuring program, which includes a reduction in manufacturing expenses. In the two years we have owned the facility, we put in place equipment and people to support an increase in customer demand and advanced cost-effective technology. However, given the current business environment, combined with today's advanced 0.18 and 0.13 micron micron: see micrometer. One micrometer, which is one millionth of a meter or approximately 1/25,000 of an inch. The tiny elements that make up a transistor on a chip are measured in micrometers and nanometers. See process technology. processes we simply do not need as many wafers to manufacture the same number of semiconductor chips. Therefore, even with the recovering demand that we expect, our remaining facilities will serve us well. Importantly, reducing expenses now will speed our return to profitability. And we will still be well positioned with capacity to support the upturn when it arrives." The plant closure is expected to save Atmel approximately $9 million per quarter in on-going expenses, and potentially an additional $6 million per quarter in future depreciation. Additionally, while the company's balance sheet is healthy, sale of assets will strengthen it. About Atmel Founded in 1984, Atmel Corporation is headquartered in San Jose, California San Jose (IPA: /ˌsænhoʊˈzeɪ/) is the third-largest city in California, and the tenth-largest in the United States. It is the county seat of Santa Clara County. with manufacturing facilities in North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. and Europe. Atmel designs, manufactures and markets worldwide, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory See non-volatile memory. and RF semiconductors. Atmel is also a leading provider of system-level integration semiconductor solutions using CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) Pronounced "c-moss." The most widely used integrated circuit design. It is found in almost every electronic product from handheld devices to mainframes. , BiCMOS, SiGe, and high-voltage BCDMOS process technologies. Note to Editors: Atmel, the Atmel logo and combinations thereof are registered trademarks, and others contained herein are trademarks, of Atmel Corporation. Other terms and product names in this document may be the trademarks of others. |
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