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TMC obtains go-ahead for NT$11bn investment plan

The government-backed memory chip company Taiwan Memory Co (TMC, 台灣創新記憶體公司) obtained government approval to invest NT$11 billion (US$339.1 million) in Hsinchu on making computer memory chips used in computers and other consumer electronics, a government agency said.

The Science Park Administration gave the green light yesterday to several investment plans — including one from TMC — during a regular review of investment proposals.

The administration said TMC planned to set its headquarters in Hsinchu Science Park, which is home to some of the nation’s most important semiconductor companies including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體), Taiwan’s No. 2 maker of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips.

In July, TMC registered with the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ commerce department with an initial capital of NT$500,000 and submitted a business proposal to the Industrial Development Bureau for a government capital infusion of about NT$10 billion.

Local chip packagers and testers Siliconware Precision Industries Co (矽品精密) and King Yuan Electronics Co Ltd (京元電子) have said they intend to inject as much as NT$2 billion and NT$300 million respectively in the company, which was founded by chairman John Hsuan (宣明智).

TMC intends to transfer technologies from Japanese partner Elpida Memories Inc first and to jointly develop next-generation technologies and products with Elpida, aiming to rapidly improve cost competitiveness and win orders, the statement said.

TMC also intends to better utilize advanced 12-inch plants built by existing DRAM makers, it said.

Together with Elpida, TMC’s research and development team will seek to develop advanced technologies to supply memory modules for mobile and consumer devices to Taiwanese electronic manufacturers in the future.

Separately, the administration gave the go-ahead to major investment proposals including those from Macronix International Co (旺宏電子) and Air Products, which planned to spend a combined NT$160.12 billion on capacity expansion in Taichung’s Central Science Park. The government agency did not give the breakdown of their respective investment amount.
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