In the wake of the Atmel's disposal of its North Tyneside fab, we review the plant's chequered history.
We reported on Tuesday that Atmel's North Tyneside fab is to shut after a $124m sale. It is part of Atmel's fab-lite strategy, which saw the disposal of its Irving, Texas fab in May and its sale of a French wafer fab last year, and follows the announcement that it is looking for a buyer for its German fab.
My predecessor, Richard Ball, was covering a previous twist to this story last year, in a post which is worth highlighting - Will North Tyneside fab survive Atmel sell-off?
He outlines the plant's chequered history, from its opening by the Queen in 1997, following its construction by Siemens, through cutbacks in DRAM production and a prolonged period of uncertainty, with various mystery groups being touted as potential buyers of the fab, up to more recent times.
As recently as August 2005 Atmel said it was committing to the plant with the promise of 0.13µm technology.
Sadly, it seems events have conspired against the North East fab.
atmel north tyneside
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