Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s (TSMC, 台積電) board of directors on Thursday approved an allocation of US$2.89 billion to increase the company’s manufacturing capacity, which is expected to be used to expand its plant in Nanjing, China.
In a short statement, the world’s leading contract chip manufacturer said that the additional spending would go toward “installing mature technology capacity.”
NANJING FAB
A source within TSMC later told the Central News Agency that the money would be used to boost capacity at its Nanjing fab, aiming for production of an additional 40,000 28-nanometer chips per month.
The new capacity would begin commercial production in the second half of next year and would reach its planned monthly output by the middle of 2023, the source said.
Expanding the Nanjing fab, which currently produces 20,000 16-nanometer chips per month, was deemed the fastest way to meet customers’ demand for 28-nanometer chips, the source said.
According to TSMC’s Web site, applications for 28-nanometer chips include central processing units, graphics processors, smartphones, consumer electronics and automobiles.
STOCK INCENTIVE
TSMC’s board of directors also approved the company’s first employee restricted stock awards, with plans to issue a maximum of 2.6 million common shares for this year in an effort to attract and retain corporate executives, and to link their compensation with shareholders’ interests, and achievements in environmental, social and corporate governance.
The proposed share issuance is subject to approval by shareholders at the annual general meeting on June 8.
TRANSPARENCY
The company also shot down rumors that it plans to move monthly production of 20,000 12-inch chips from Taiwan to its Nanjing factory, because of the risk of water shortages in Taiwan.
The company will publicly announce any decisions regarding capacity planning, it said in a separate statement, adding that Taiwan remains an important manufacturing base.
CHIP RACE: Three years of overbroad export controls drove foreign competitors to pursue their own AI chips, and ‘cost US taxpayers billions of dollars,’ Nvidia said China has figured out the US strategy for allowing it to buy Nvidia Corp’s H200s and is rejecting the artificial intelligence (AI) chip in favor of domestically developed semiconductors, White House AI adviser David Sacks said, citing news reports. US President Donald Trump on Monday said that he would allow shipments of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China, part of an administration effort backed by Sacks to challenge Chinese tech champions such as Huawei Technologies Co (華為) by bringing US competition to their home market. On Friday, Sacks signaled that he was uncertain about whether that approach would work. “They’re rejecting our chips,” Sacks
NATIONAL SECURITY: Intel’s testing of ACM tools despite US government control ‘highlights egregious gaps in US technology protection policies,’ a former official said Chipmaker Intel Corp has tested chipmaking tools this year from a toolmaker with deep roots in China and two overseas units that were targeted by US sanctions, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Intel, which fended off calls for its CEO’s resignation from US President Donald Trump in August over his alleged ties to China, got the tools from ACM Research Inc, a Fremont, California-based producer of chipmaking equipment. Two of ACM’s units, based in Shanghai and South Korea, were among a number of firms barred last year from receiving US technology over claims they have
It is challenging to build infrastructure in much of Europe. Constrained budgets and polarized politics tend to undermine long-term projects, forcing officials to react to emergencies rather than plan for the future. Not in Austria. Today, the country is to officially open its Koralmbahn tunnel, the 5.9 billion euro (US$6.9 billion) centerpiece of a groundbreaking new railway that will eventually run from Poland’s Baltic coast to the Adriatic Sea, transforming travel within Austria and positioning the Alpine nation at the forefront of logistics in Europe. “It is Austria’s biggest socio-economic experiment in over a century,” said Eric Kirschner, an economist at Graz-based Joanneum
OPTION: Uber said it could provide higher pay for batch trips, if incentives for batching is not removed entirely, as the latter would force it to pass on the costs to consumers Uber Technologies Inc yesterday warned that proposed restrictions on batching orders and minimum wages could prompt a NT$20 delivery fee increase in Taiwan, as lower efficiency would drive up costs. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi made the remarks yesterday during his visit to Taiwan. He is on a multileg trip to the region, which includes stops in South Korea and Japan. His visit coincided the release last month of the Ministry of Labor’s draft bill on the delivery sector, which aims to safeguard delivery workers’ rights and improve their welfare. The ministry set the minimum pay for local food delivery drivers at
RSS