Hewlett-Packard Co (HP) and ProMOS Technologies Inc (茂德科技) yesterday signed a contract by which HP will license its latest computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) process to the nation's third-largest maker of computer memory.
The CIM will be applied in ProMOS' fab 4, which is still under construction in Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區), Taichung, and is slated to start mass production at the end of the year, and also at the adjoining fab 3, the companies said yesterday.
TOP PLANT
Through the automation project, the twin fabs are expected to have the biggest production of any single plant in the world, HP Taiwan's managing director, Rosemary Ho (
Ho is scheduled to leave the company to pursue other career goals following the announcement of her resignation on Feb. 9.
ProMOS implemented an earlier version of HP's CIM solution in its fab 1 and fab 2 previously.
PRODUCTION BOOST
The latest CIM would further integrate manufacturing process and logistics management, targeting a boost in its production volume without any performance bottlenecks, and support maximum efficiency, said Peter Liu (劉乃文), general manager of HP Taiwan's CIM division.
The system would also accelerate the manufacturing speed for a quick ramp-up to meet fab 4's pilot run, Liu said.
After adopting the CIM, ProMOS expects to see production time reduce by 30 percent to 40 percent, and costs down by 10 percent to 20 percent, chairman Chen Min-liang (
VOLUME
The estimated production volume for the twin fab is 120,000 wafers per month, the highest in a single fab in the world, Chen said.
The capacities of ProMOS' fab 3 and fab 4 would be 60,000 wafers per month each, while the current production volume of fab 3 is under 50,000 wafers, he added.
ProMOS is waiting for the government's approval to manufacture chips using 0.18 micron process technology in its plants in China.
CHINA
On March 19, Taiwan Semicon-ductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), the world's largest contract chipmaker, received permission from the Investment Commission to upgrade its production in China to 0.18 micron technology from 0.25 micron.
Chen said ProMOS had filed an application last month, and hopes to obtain approval by the end of the first half of the year.
"We hope the government will speed up the process," Chen said.
INTEL
Earlier this week, US chip giant Intel Corp announced its plan to build a US$2.5 billion chip factory in China and establish a semiconductor training site, a move that analysts said was good for China's semiconductor manufacturing industry.
Chen said Intel's planned investment would have an adverse impact on Taiwanese chipmakers and showed that China would gain more advanced technologies from foreign companies, if not from Taiwanese makers.
"To prevent China from progressing a half step, we've regressed by three steps," Chen said.
Shares of ProMOS advanced by 2.09 percent to close at NT$12.20 on the GRETAI Securities Market.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”