Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s top contract chipmaker, could continue to be the main supplier of Apple Inc’s A9 processor used in its new-
generation iPhones and iPads next year, a market researcher said yesterday.
The key for TSMC to win over its main competitor, Samsung Electronics Co, in vying for Apple’s orders is its production yield, the Market Intelligence and Consulting Institute (MIC, 產業情報研究所) told a press conference on technology industry trends for next year.
“The two companies’ technological capabilities are similar, so the key factor will be whose mass-production yield is better,” MIC director Chris Hung (洪春暉) told reporters on the sidelines of the event.
Hung added that the chances of TSMC remaining the main supplier are higher because of its better yields.
Samsung also produces advanced 20-nanometer (nm) chips, but its yield is not satisfactory, Hung said.
“However, as Apple tends to spread the risks, it is likely that the winning supplier of A9 will not take all the orders,” Hung said.
The MIC holds a positive view of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry next year, despite China’s determination to develop its chip industry, Hung said.
“Although Beijing is to back up the development of its semiconductor industry with an industry-supporting fund of 120 billion yuan [US$19.29 billion], Taiwan still has its technological advantages in terms of design, manufacturing and packaging in the global market,” Hung said.
He said it would take three to five years for China to become a real threat to the Taiwanese industry, but some Taiwanese companies have started to take proactive measures against the rising competition.
Handset chip supplier MediaTek Inc’s (聯發科) 300 million yuan investment in a Chinese government fund and United Microelectronics Corp’s (UMC, 聯電) US$1.35 billion planned investment in a new foundry in Xiamen demonstrates the two companies’ determination to deepen cooperation with China and to benefit from the rapid growth in the world’s largest semiconductor market, he said.
Hung said he expects mergers and acquisitions among Chinese semiconductor companies in the next two or three years, adding that Chinese companies might integrate their upstream and downstream suppliers via strategic cooperation with international companies.
“International semiconductor companies Intel Corp and Samsung both attempted to secure their positions in the Chinese market through investments in chips plants in the country,” Hung said.
Intel has two chips plants in Chengdu (成都) and Dalian (大連) cities, and Samsung established its first semiconductor fabrication plan in Xian (西安), he added.
Hung said the global companies’ moves in China would push Taiwanese companies to secure the positions in the Chinese market as soon as possible.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, booked its first-ever profit from its Arizona subsidiary in the first half of this year, four years after operations began, a company financial statement showed. Wholly owned by TSMC, the Arizona unit contributed NT$4.52 billion (US$150.1 million) in net profit, compared with a loss of NT$4.34 billion a year earlier, the statement showed. The company attributed the turnaround to strong market demand and high factory utilization. The Arizona unit counts Apple Inc, Nvidia Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc among its major customers. The firm’s first fab in Arizona began high-volume production
VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: The Japanese company is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence linchpins Nvidia Corp and TSMC Softbank Group Corp agreed to buy US$2 billion of Intel Corp stock, a surprise deal to shore up a struggling US name while boosting its own chip ambitions. The Japanese company, which is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence (AI) linchpins Nvidia Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), is to pay US$23 a share — a small discount to Intel’s last close. Shares of the US chipmaker, which would issue new stock to Softbank, surged more than 5 percent in after-hours trading. Softbank’s stock fell as much as 5.4 percent on Tuesday in Tokyo, its
COLLABORATION: Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture would make AI data center equipment, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) would operate a US factory owned by Softbank Group Corp, setting up what is in the running to be the first manufacturing site in the Japanese company’s US$500 billion Stargate venture with OpenAI and Oracle Corp. Softbank is acquiring Hon Hai’s electric-vehicle plant in Ohio, but the Taiwanese company would continue to run the complex after turning it into an artificial intelligence (AI) server production plant, Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said yesterday. Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture between the two companies would make AI data
DOLLAR SIGNS: The central bank rejected claims that the NT dollar had appreciated 10 percentage points more than the yen or the won against the greenback The New Taiwan dollar yesterday fell for a sixth day to its weakest level in three months, driven by equity-related outflows and reactions to an economics official’s exchange rate remarks. The NT dollar slid NT$0.197, or 0.65 percent, to close at NT$30.505 per US dollar, central bank data showed. The local currency has depreciated 1.97 percent so far this month, ranking as the weakest performer among Asian currencies. Dealers attributed the retreat to foreign investors wiring capital gains and dividends abroad after taking profit in local shares. They also pointed to reports that Washington might consider taking equity stakes in chipmakers, including Taiwan Semiconductor