Getting to know Qimonda

Versão Portuguesa

Qimonda Porto – the bare facts

Country: Portugal
Region: Oporto Metropolitan area
Established: 1996
No. of employees: approx. 2,000
Areas of activity: Research and Development, Design and Testing, Production, Purchasing, Planning, Logistics and Controlling, Information Technology, Service, Support and Staff Functions
Distance from city center: 25 km (15,5 miles) from Porto and 4 km (2,5 miles) from Vila do Conde
Distance from airport: 20 km (12,5 miles)

The low down

Qimonda’s backend manufacturing site is located in a high-tech industrial park at the heart of the tranquil beach resort of Vila do Conde. Stretching over 22,000 square meters with a production clean room measuring 15,500 square meters, this site is the biggest assembly and test memory product fab in Europe. Boasting an investment volume of 700 million euros thus far, this plant makes Qimonda the second largest foreign investor in Portugal. Qimonda’s commitment to the Porto site has more than paid off. The company is now the country’s largest national exporter (based on H1 2007 figures) and the biggest electric and electronics player in Portugal.

Sun, sand and semi-conductors

Porto’s most famous export is port wine, but Portugal’s second-largest city has so much more to offer than traditional port lodges, where you can sample the well-known tipple. The historic center of Porto, also known by its Portuguese name, Oporto, was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996 and boasts stunning architecture in every imaginable style, from Romanesque and Gothic, through Baroque, to Romantic and Neo-Classical. It is a city of bridges, with beautiful examples spanning the river Douro, including the Dom Luís bridge and the Maria Pia bridge, a wrought-iron railway bridge built by Gustave Eiffel.
North of Porto on the Atlantic coast, Vila do Conde is primarily a beach resort, with just 25,700 inhabitants. Stretches of sandy beaches and rocky reefs make it a favored destination for many sun-loving tourists each year. Fishing and ship-building used to be the traditional industries here. Today, you can still find a handful going about their crafts, complemented by the more dainty cottage industry of producing lace using shuttles.