Yageo Corp (國巨), the nation’s largest passive components supplier, on Saturday broke ground for a new plant in Kaohsiung that is expected to begin commercial production in 2022.
Yageo chairman Pierre Chen (陳泰銘) told the groundbreaking ceremony that it would be the company’s first new plant in the city in 15 years as it embarks on a plan to move its high-end technology production back home from overseas.
The plant, which is expected to be completed in August 2022, would produce passive components, such as chip resistors, inductors and multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs), starting in October that year, Yageo said.
Photo: CNA
The plant is being built at a cost of NT$5 billion (US$173.33 million), with an additional NT$13 billion to NT$15 billion allocated for equipment to produce advanced MLCCs, and is expected to create 3,000 new jobs, the company said.
The facility would have 10 stories with a floor area of 85,800m2, about 1.3 times the size of Yageo’s two other MLCC factories in Kaohsiung.
When the plant starts operation, 60 percent of Yageo’s total MLCC production would be in Taiwan, Chen said.
The production lines in Taiwan are to manufacture specialty and high-end MLCCs for use in the fields of automotive electronics, medical care, aviation, 5G and the Internet of Things, among others, he said.
With three plants in operation in Taiwan, Yageo’s MLCC production capacity would increase from 60 billion to 100 billion units per month, cementing its position as a leading global MLCC supplier, Chen said.
Yageo would also boost its development of high-technology through expansion, he said, citing the company’s acquisition earlier this year of US companies Kemet Corp and Pulse Electronics Corp for US$1.64 billion and US$740 million respectively.
Yageo would continue to invest in Kaohsiung as part of its plan to make Taiwan its manufacturing hub over the next five years, Chen said.
The company said it has teamed up with National Cheng Kung University in Tainan to establish a research and development center, where it would set up an academy to foster talent for the development of passive components.
Yageo has invested at least NT$50 million in the center, which has two research compounds, one in Kaohsiung and the other at the university.
Yageo is the largest maker of chip resistors and tantalum capacitors, but only 25 percent of its employees are in Taiwan, while 50 percent of its overseas workers are in China.
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
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks