Flash memory firm SanDisk Corporation has announced the opening of its production facility in Shanghai.

Based in Zizhu Industrial Science Park, SanDisk Semiconductor (Shanghai) Company is expected to play a critical role in SanDisk's worldwide operations as the plant will focus on the assembly and test of its advanced flash memory products for mobile and other consumers in markets worldwide. SanDisk's worldwide operations function will also reside at the Shanghai facility. The announcement was made today at a press conference held at the facility.

The new SanDisk manufacturing plant produces a flash memory-based chip package called System-in-a-Package, which is particularly valuable in mobile phones where there is limited space due to their small size.

"Shanghai is a strategic location that is close to our supply partners and allows us to stay ahead of the curve as we seek to bring our products to market faster," said Sanjay Mehrotra, president and COO at SanDisk. "We believe our new state-of-the-art facility will help us to meet the growing demand for storage cards as consumers increasingly use their mobile phones to view photos, listen to music as well as record and play videos."

The new 34,000 square meter facility is a vertically integrated production operation with all test and assembly processes carried out at the plant. The production capacity of SDSS is expected to meet approximately 30 percent of SanDisk's SiP products projected global demand.