Renesas recently announced that it plans to construct a new back-end process facility in its Renesas Semiconductor (Kedah) plant for an extra one billion Yen (US$9.4 million; US$1 = 106.5 Yen), aiming to buoy up its analog and discrete semiconductor business. The company also has another back-end plant in Penang, called Renesas Semiconductor (Malaysia).

According to Jiji Press, the new facility is slated for operations in August 2008 and is expected to double the combined monthly production capacity of two plants in Malaysia from 600 million to 1.2 billion units by the end of fiscal year 2009, which runs from April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010.

Meanwhile, on January 2008, Renesas Semiconductor (Malaysia) spun off its analog and discrete semiconductor device design department to set up a new company called Renesas Semiconductor Design (Malaysia), Nikkei Electronics Asia reported. According to the same report, the company plans to increase its manpower at its new design center from the current 100 to 200 personnel by the end of fiscal year 2009.