Over the next five years, Taiwan is expected to become the second-largest investor worldwide in advanced 12-inch wafer fabs, SEMI, a California-based association that represents the global semiconductor sector, said yesterday.
The nation is forecast to invest US$14 billion to US$17 billion in 12-inch wafer manufacturing facilities from this year to 2024, trailing only South Korea, which is forecast to invest US$15 billion to US$19 billion, the association said.
Local semiconductor companies are expected to build 11 of the fabs during that period, it added.
Thirty-eight of the fabs are to be added worldwide — for a total of 161 — while monthly production capacity is expected to increase by about 1.8 million units to more than 7 million, the association said.
With an investment of US$11 billion to US$13 billion over five years, China would be third, it said.
China is eager to develop its own semiconductor industry and after major investment, it is expected to account for 20 percent of global production capacity by 2024, up from 8 percent in 2015, it added.
China is expected to construct eight 12-inch wafer fabs over the next five years, increasing its monthly production capacity to 1.5 million units, it said.
Global investment in 12-inch wafer fabs this year is expected to increase 13 percent, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and an additional 4 percent next year, SEMI Taiwan president Terry Tsao (曹世綸) told reporters.
The pandemic has increased demand for chips used in devices such as cloud-based services, servers, notebook computers, and gaming consoles, as well as 5G, the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence applications, he said.
The level of investment in the semiconductor industry is a good foundation for the development of advanced technologies, he said.
UNPRECEDENTED PACE: Micron Technology has announced plans to expand manufacturing capabilities with the acquisition of a new chip plant in Miaoli Micron Technology Inc unveiled a newly acquired chip plant in Miaoli County yesterday, as the company expands capacity to meet growing demand for advanced DRAM chips, including high-bandwidth memory chips amid the artificial intelligence boom. The plant in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼), which Micron acquired from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion, is expected to make a sizeable capacity contribution to the company from fiscal 2028, the company said in a statement. It would be an extended production site of Micron’s large-scale manufacturing hub in Taichung, the company said. As the global semiconductor industry is racing to reach US$1 trillion
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
ABOVE LEGAL REQUIREMENT: The Ministry of Economic Affairs is prepared if LNG supply is disrupted, with more than the legal requirement of 11 days of inventory Taiwan has largely secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies through May and arranged about half of June’s supply, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday. Since the Middle East conflict began on Feb. 28, Taiwan’s LNG inventories have remained more than 12 days, exceeding the legal requirement of 11 days, indicating no major supply concerns for domestic gas and electricity, Kung said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. The ministry aims to increase the figure to 14 days by the end of next year, he said. While one or two LNG or crude oil shipments for May
Taiwan’s food delivery market could undergo a major shift if Singapore-based Grab Holdings Ltd completes its planned acquisition of Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda business in Taiwan, industry experts said. Grab on Monday last week announced it would acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations for US$600 million. The deal is expected to be finalized in the second half of this year, with Grab aiming to complete user migration to its platform by the first half of next year. A duopoly between Uber Eats and Foodpanda dominates Taiwan’s delivery market, a structure that has remained intact since the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) blocked Uber Technologies Inc’s
RSS