Taiwan Semiconductor Manufac-turing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) yesterday said the company may be slowing its plans to build its first plant in China, citing a slower-than-expected growth in the Chinese market.
At the company's annual shareholders meeting held in Hsinchu, Chang said the company may postpone its application for second-stage plan in establishing a chip plant in China.
The test production in that plant will not commence until end of next year, he added.
TSMC won government approval on Feb. 26 to construct a plant in China. On May 26 the company said it expects sales this year to rise 20 percent from NT$162.3 billion (US$4.7 billion) a year ago.
But Chang yesterday said he is "cautiously optimistic" about its business outlook for the third quarter and that for the final quarter still unclear at the time.
The company yesterday also held a board meeting and approved the sale of 450 million shares as American depositary receipts.
Most of the shares will be sold by the Cabinet's Development Fund, TSMC spokesman Tseng Jin-hao (
In March last year, the fund planned to sell NT$21.1 billion (US$603 million) of shares to pad the government's coffers.
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