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[Image above] Drawing of the new proposed ceramic microelectronics manufacturing plant. Credit: Kyocera

“More powerful mobile devices, larger televisions, autonomous and electric vehicles, wearables, virtual reality, and the Internet of Things (IoT)—these technologies drive innovation and efficiencies in the electronics industry and in semiconductors themselves. Ceramics serve a crucial role in enabling these developments, whether in the manufacturing, use, or application of advanced semiconductors.”

That was the introductory paragraph of the cover story, written by Kyocera International’s Arne Knudsen, from the April 2018 issue of the ACerS Bulletin.

And in addition to indicating how important of a role ceramics play in the semiconductor industry, apparently the article was a hint of what was soon to come from the giant semiconductor corporation.

Kyocera Corporation just announced that it will invest $52.4 million to build a new manufacturing plant in Japan to boost production of ceramic microelectronic packages.

The company reports that the new facility will increase Kyocera’s production capacity of ceramic packages for surface-mount electronic devices and complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors by 25%.

Scheduled to begin construction this month, the new 6-story manufacturing plant is expected to open in August 2019 at the company’s Kagoshima Sendai manufacturing complex in Kagoshima, Japan.

The complex, which already includes 21 facilities, originally opened in 1969 to produce multilayer ceramic packages for integrated circuits for desktop calculators. The new manufacturing plant will produce ceramic technologies that enable IoT, driver-assist systems, and other advanced automotive and medical applications—how times have changed!

Kyocera’s first-year production plan for the new plant includes ~$36 million for the first 6 months of operation, according to a press release from the company.

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