The fire took place in the materials-processing plant of Advanced Semiconductor Engineering in the town of Chung Li. Other chip companies for which the Chung Li plant was also carrying out contract work include ATI, Intel, Infineon, Freescale, Motorola, Nvidia, Sunplus and VIA.
Some of these companies have already put out statements saying that the Taiwanese fire will not significantly impact their business. Intel told the local press that its 865-series chipsets and some comms processors were affected, but the 915-series and CPUs were unscathed, provoking speculation that Intel had already switched production to rival Taiwanese fabs such as Silliconware and Amkor.
However, Intel corporate headquarters, in Santa Clara, California, said it is too early yet to provide any detailed reports of the damage until it gets a definitive assessment of the situation, since local authorities still have control over the building, said spokesman Chuck Molloy.
Reports of specific Intel products affected are speculation, he said. We’re working to adjust out supply chain to take this event into account as we attempt to mitigate any affect on our customers, Molloy said.
ATI Technologies Inc, based in Ontario, Canada, uses ASE as one of its supplier of substrates, said Chris Evenden, ATI director of PR. The affects of the fire are minimal in the short-term, as the company will draw on its substrate inventory and stock, he said.
And the long-term affect is negligible, since the company has roughly five other substrate suppliers, Evenden said.
Nvidia said its shipments would not be affected as our parts are not packaged at this site.
