CSMC Technologies Corp (
The plant, planned for 2007, will make standard 8-inch chip wafers, adding to the company's three less-advanced, 6-inch wafer manufacturing lines in Wuxi, west of Shanghai, Chief Financial Officer Frank Lai said. This year, CSMC will double capacity on those lines to 55,000 wafers a month.
The news comes as Taiwanese rivals, leaders in the so-called foundry business, run factories at capacity amid a global recovery in chip demand after a near three-year slump. China's foundry capacity will jump 75 percent to the equivalent of 2 million 8-inch wafers this year, Gartner Inc. has forecasted. That will account for 12 percent of the world's total, compared with 4.6 percent in 2002, the company said.
CSMC's customers include Japan's Fujitsu Ltd and China's Hangzhou Silan Microelectronics Co (
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC,
Founded in 1997 by Peter Chen, the former chief executive of Taiwanese chipmaker Mosel Vitelic Inc (
CSMC focuses on making silicon wafers six inches in diameter, two generations behind the most advanced equipment used today to produce 12-inch wafers. Chinese companies, which enjoy lower wage and land costs, can sell the chips at cheaper prices.
Last year, CSMC bought a 6-inch wafer production line from Agere Systems Inc, a spin-off from Lucent Technologies Inc, and one from Chartered Semiconductor.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
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