Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc.’s share price down, closes ageing facilities

Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc., one of the oldest chip manufacturers, announced that it intends to shut down some its ageing facilities, trimming about 15% of its 9 000 workforce, as production will be outsourced.

According to the companys statement, between $45 million and $55 million on a yearly basis are to be saved by closing the plants. The changes will be implemented between the second and fourth quarter of the next year.

“An adaptive supply chain must be the foundation of any global manufacturer’s operations in the increasingly dynamic semiconductor solutions market,” Mark Thompson, CEO of Fairchild said. “The realignment we are announcing today will maximize the utilization of eight-inch factories and reduce the complexity of our manufacturing footprint.”

According to the statement, the some of the companys six-inch wafer fabrication lines in West Jordan, Utah and Penang, Malaysia, will be closed , as well as the remaining five-inch wafer fabrication lines in Bucheon, South Korea.

The company, which was founded in 1957, is one of the oldest one in the industry of chips manufacturing, and currently offers a great variety of components that are used in smartphones, domestic appliances, cars and other products.

Currently, Fairchild still uses older production lines for manufacturing low-price product offerings, while other companies such as Intel Corp. are investing in building more expensive plants in order to create ultrasmall circuitry on costly chips.

Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc. was 0.68% down to close at $16.91 per share yesterday, marking a one-year change of +37.03% and valuing the company at $2.03bn. According to CNN Money, the 9 analysts offering 12-month price forecasts for Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc. have a median target of $18.00, with a high estimate of $19.00 and a low estimate of $10.00. The median estimate represents a +6.45% increase from the last price of $16.91.