Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, will increase capital expenditure this year on the back of strong demand for semiconductors that go into tablet devices and mobile phones.
Demand for 28-nanometer (nm) technology is “very much stronger than we expected,” TSMC chairman and chief executive officer Morris Chang (張忠謀) said in Greater Tainan yesterday, referring to the company’s most-advanced production process at present.
This has spurred the company to commence production using 20nm process technology earlier than previously planned, he said.
Photo: Wang Chun-chung, Taipei Times
Chang made the remark as the company held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new manufacturing facility in the Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區). The Fab 14 Phase 5 manufacturing facility will be the firm’s second 20nm fab, which will begin commercial production in early 2014.
The first 20nm facility — Fab 12, Phase 6 at the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區) — will commence production next year.
“Our mission is to be the trusted technology and capacity provider for the global logic integrated circuit [IC] industry for years to come,” Chang said at the ceremony. “In fulfilling this mission, we further solidify TSMC’s and Taiwan’s indispensable position in the world semiconductor industry.”
“This groundbreaking for the Fab 14 Phase 5 facility represents TSMC’s capability to develop leading-edge technology, build advanced capacity and satisfy customer demand. It also lays the foundation for TSMC’s next wave of growth,” he added.
Demand for chips that go into mobile devices is increasing as more people use phones and tablet computers to access the Internet, play games and watch video. US smartphone users now exceed 100 million, Comscore Inc said last month.
TSMC is currently unable to meet demand for its 28nm technology, company spokesperson Elizabeth Sun (孫又文) said.
With phases 1, 2, 3 and 4 now in operation, the Fab 14 manufacturing facility has the capacity to produce 550,000 12-inch wafers per quarter, making it the world’s largest 12-inch fab, the company said.
The annual output value of Fab 14 phases 1 through 4 is estimated to exceed US$6 billion, and TSMC expects the combined annual revenue of Phase 5 and the planned Phase 6 to reach a similar scale.
During the past 15 years, TSMC has invested NT$450 billion (US$15.3 billion) in 8-inch and 12-inch fabs and back-end packaging in the science park, creating 8,000 jobs, Chang said.
The output value of TSMC’s fabs in the science park totaled NT$180 billion last year, accounting for 42 percent of the company’s total revenue, Chang said.
The Fab 14 facility currently has about 4,600 employees. TSMC will invest NT$350 billion in Fab 14 phases 5 and 6 facilities, creating another 4,500 jobs in the future, Chang said.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
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
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure