Infineon Technologies has opened its first chip plant in Asia, a $1 billion facility located in Kulim, Malaysia.The Kulim plant will produce power and logic chips used in automotive and industrial applications, Infineon said. The factory will use 200-millimeter wafers to produce these chips, one generation behind the 300-millimeter wafers used by the most advanced chip plants currently in operation. The Kulim plant will have a monthly production capacity of 100,000 wafers and employ a staff of 1,700 when production reaches full capacity, Infineon said.The products that will be produced at Kulim include Infineon’s CoolMOS and Smart-Power chips. CoolMOS chips are used in power supplies for PCs and servers as well as in mobile-phone battery chargers to improve power efficiency and reduce heat, Infineon said. The Smart-Power chips are used in automotive applications, finding their way into a range of systems, including anti-lock brakes and airbags. Technology Industry