Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker and sole chip supplier for Apple Inc’s iPhones, yesterday said that it is building a new 8-inch fab to meet robust demand for mature technologies, marking its first investment on a less advanced fab in 15 years.
Supply of mature and specialty technologies, especially from 8-inch fabs, has been constrained industrywide over the past year as demand rises for power management ICs, fingerprint identification chips, complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors and a wide range of other applications.
Tight supply caused a rare price hike for 8-inch wafers earlier this year.
Photo: Hung Yu-fang, Taipei Times
Beyond investment on scaling down chip sizes, “we also spend on specialty technologies,” TSMC vice chairman and chief executive officer C. C. Wei (魏哲家) said in his opening speech at the company’s annual supply chain management forum in Hsinchu. “Most recently, we are building a new 8-inch fab in Tainan because demand is so strong.”
The company is working closely with customers so that it can build capacity in advance to satisfy their demand, Wei said, implying that customer demand for less advanced chips has remained unscathed amid a fickle global trade environment.
TSMC offers a wide range of specialty technologies from power management ICs and CMOS sensors to microelectromechanical systems.
The new 8-inch fab, TSMC’s fifth, would be adjacent to an existing 8-inch fab, Fab 6, TSMC said.
In October, TSMC said that factory utilization at its 8-inch fabs was good and customers were lining up for certain mature technologies.
Demand for 8-inch wafers remained strong and no signs pointed at a slowdown, the chipmaker said that month.
Local rival United Microelectronics Co (UMC, 聯電) in October also reported strong demand as it told investors that its 8-inch fabs would be fully loaded this quarter.
UMC plans to add 2 percent more 8-inch wafer capacity this year to increase supply.
TSMC plans to spend US$10 billion to US$10.5 billion on new equipment this year, mostly to increase production of its most advanced 7-nanometer technology.
The company plans to keep its capital spending high at between US$10 billion and US$12 billion in next five years to maintain its technological leadership and to support its revenue growth target of 5 percent to 10 percent annually, it said.
With heavy investment on advanced technologies, the chipmaker expects to begin risk production of next-generation 5-nanometer technology in the second quarter of next year and to enter mass production in 2020, Wei said.
The company is also preparing to start building a new fab for 3-nanometer technology, he said, adding that the construction plans are subject to an environmental impact assessment.
Separately, TSMC yesterday dismissed a report by the Nikkei Asian Review, saying that it is not launching any austerity program or cutting employees’ overseas travel in response to flagging customer demand.
The chipmaker said it downgraded a car leasing program for the company’s high-ranking executives in March.
Vice presidents of TSMC were told to choose affordable Toyota cars to commute, instead of luxury Mercedes or BMW models, the chipmaker said, adding that they could still opt for luxury cars by paying the difference.
TECH TITAN: Pandemic-era demand for semiconductors turbocharged the nation’s GDP per capita to surpass South Korea’s, but it still remains half that of Singapore Taiwan is set to surpass South Korea this year in terms of wealth for the first time in more than two decades, marking a shift in Asia’s economic ranks made possible by the ascent of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電). According to the latest forecasts released on Thursday by the central bank, Taiwan’s GDP is expected to expand 4.55 percent this year, a further upward revision from the 4.45 percent estimate made by the statistics bureau last month. The growth trajectory puts Taiwan on track to exceed South Korea’s GDP per capita — a key measure of living standards — a
READY TO HELP: Should TSMC require assistance, the government would fully cooperate in helping to speed up the establishment of the Chiayi plant, an official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said its investment plans in Taiwan are “unchanged” amid speculation that the chipmaker might have suspended construction work on its second chip packaging plant in Chiayi County and plans to move equipment arranged for the plant to the US. The Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported earlier yesterday that TSMC had halted the construction of the chip packaging plant, which was scheduled to be completed next year and begin mass production in 2028. TSMC did not directly address whether construction of the plant had halted, but said its investment plans in Taiwan remain “unchanged.” The chipmaker started
MORTGAGE WORRIES: About 34% of respondents to a survey said they would approach multiple lenders to pay for a home, while 29.2% said they would ask family for help New housing projects in Taiwan’s six special municipalities, as well as Hsinchu city and county, are projected to total NT$710.65 billion (US$23.61 billion) in the upcoming fall sales season, a record 30 percent decrease from a year earlier, as tighter mortgage rules prompt developers to pull back, property listing platform 591.com (591新建案) said yesterday. The number of projects has also fallen to 312, a more than 20 percent decrease year-on-year, underscoring weakening sentiment and momentum amid lingering policy and financing headwinds. New Taipei City and Taoyuan bucked the downturn in project value, while Taipei, Hsinchu city and county, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung
LOOKING BRIGHT: Taiwanese tech stocks have been trading at 18 to 19 times earnings, beating the 15 percent long-term average amid AI-driven optimism, an analyst said Taiwan’s economy could expand by as much as 5 percent this year, fueled by its technology manufacturing edge amid a global artificial intelligence (AI) boom, while tariff exemptions on semiconductor products keep the country’s levy burden low despite a headline rate of 20 percent, UBS Investment Bank said yesterday. “Although Washington has imposed a 20 percent tariff on goods from Taiwan, exemptions for semiconductors keep the weighted average low,” UBS senior economist for Asia and China William Deng (鄧維慎) said. The growth momentum is expected to extend into next year, with technology companies’ revenue projected to rise 17 percent, UBS research head
RSS