In response to Winbond Electronics Corp's (華邦) decision to move out of the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park (TSIP, 台南科學工業園區), the Executive Yuan is currently exploring alternative solutions to the problem. Winbond's decision to change the location of its planned factory comes as a result of concerns that a nearby north-south high speed rail will cause excessive vibration at a precision manufacturing facility, disrupting operations there.
The National Science Council (NSC,
According to NSC Vice Chairman Steve Hsieh (
Director of TSIP's development office (
Winbond was scheduled to begin build two 12-inch wafer plants in the second half of 2001, with a total investment of NT$120 billion, but the company decided to look for other possible sites due to concerns that vibration from the future rail project will affect its highly sensitive manufacturing equipment if the plants were built on original site. The site is only 400m from the high-speed rail project.
A simulation conducted by the National Earthquake Engineering Research Center (
Hsieh supports the move by Winbond to Luchu because it will create more diversity in the park. In addition, it would prevent too many high-tech companies from being heavily concentrated in one geographic location, which could be a hazard in the event of a severe earthquake.
TSIP's development office is scheduled to discuss with Hsieh the pace of Luchu's development today, and then discuss related details with Winbond Chairman Arthur Chiao (
The US$2.9 billion "bullet train" deal was signed late last year between Japan's Taiwan Shinkansen consortium and the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp.
The 340km high-speed rail system linking Taipei and the southern city of Kaohsiung is scheduled to begin operations in 2005.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登精密), the sole extreme ultraviolet pod supplier to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), yesterday said it has trimmed its revenue growth target for this year as US tariffs are likely to depress customer demand and weigh on the whole supply chain. Gudeng’s remarks came after the US on Monday notified 14 countries, including Japan and South Korea, of new tariff rates that are set to take effect on Aug. 1. Taiwan is still negotiating for a rate lower than the 32 percent “reciprocal” tariffs announced by the US in April, which it later postponed to today. The
MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR: Revenue from AI servers made up more than 50 percent of Wistron’s total server revenue in the second quarter, the company said Wistron Corp (緯創) on Tuesday reported a 135.6 percent year-on-year surge in revenue for last month, driven by strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, with the momentum expected to extend into the third quarter. Revenue last month reached NT$209.18 billion (US$7.2 billion), a record high for June, bringing second-quarter revenue to NT$551.29 billion, a 129.47 percent annual increase, the company said. Revenue in the first half of the year totaled NT$897.77 billion, up 87.36 percent from a year earlier and also a record high for the period, it said. The company remains cautiously optimistic about AI server shipments in the third quarter,
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.
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