Robert Castellano

Oversupply Issues Plague Solar Manufacturers

I've been saying in my blog on SeekingAlpha for a year that overcapacity was a problem.

In September I wrote a press release entitled "Solar crisis set to hit in 2010, 50% of manufacturers may not survive, says The Information Network" You can read it here - hhttp://digitimes.com/print/a2...

So now it has begun.

Friday's Futures, Intel and Silicon Valley

Intel is closing two assembly test facilities in Penang, Malaysia are to be shut down, along with another in Cavite in The Philippines.

Two silicon wafer fabrication plants in the US are being shut down - Fab 20, a 200mm wafer facility in Hillsboro, Oregon, and the D2 plant in Santa Clara, California, another unprofitable 200mm facility. All the latest chip are being manufactured in more profitable 300mm fabs, where you get 2.5 times more chips on a 300mm wafer than a 200mm wafer.