Taiwan Semiconductor Manufac-turing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world's largest contract microchip maker, said yesterday it is expanding the capacity of a 300mm wafer plant in Tainan.
"TSMC has begun the third-phase construction of the plant. We expect the full monthly capacity of the plant to increase to 115,000 [wafers] after completion, scheduled for the third quarter of next year," company spokesman Tzeng Jinnhaw (曾晉皓) said.
The first phase is operational with monthly output of some 20,000 wafers, which will rise to 70,000 under a second-phase expansion coming on line later this year.
Tzeng declined to disclose the financial details for the Tainan plant but noted that TSMC planned to spend between US$2.6 billion and US$2.8 billion on the Tainan plant and another 300mm facility in Hsinchu next year.
"With the expansion, TSMC plans to hire a total of 3,600 new employees before the end of this year. The Tainan plant is expected to take nearly half of that number," said a TSMC official who asked not to be named.
Separately, Royal Philips Electronics NV, Europe's largest consumer electronics maker, cut the dividend forecast from its TSMC stake to 335 million euros (US$429 million) in the second quarter.
Philips on April 18 forecast a dividend of 430 million euros from TSMC, Philips said in a statement yesterday. The forecast was cut because of changes in currency rates.
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