GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s third-largest silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said it has signed a US$800 million deal with GlobalFoundries Inc to supply 300mm and 200mm specialized wafers from its US factory.
The Hsinchu-based company expects to spend US$210 million on capital expenditure in the next few years to expand capacity for the specialized silicon wafers, or silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers, at its MEMC facility in O’Fallon, Missouri, the company said in a statement.
The long-term supply agreement with GlobalFoundries, the world’s No. 4 foundry service provider, is one of the biggest deals secured by GlobalWafers.
Photo: Bloomberg
The two companies in February last year announced their intention to collaborate closely to significantly expand GlobalWafers’ 300mm SOI wafer manufacturing capacity. Yesterday’s announcement signals a significant step forward in their collaboration.
GlobalWafers said in the statement that the 300mm pilot line in Missouri is on track to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.
The silicon wafers would be used at GlobalFoundries’ most advanced manufacturing facility, Fab 8, in Malta, New York, while the 200mm wafers would be used at GlobalFoundries’ Fab 9 in Essex Junction, Vermont, it said.
GlobalWafers said the SOI wafers would be used by GlobalFoundries to develop semiconductors, as demand increases for advanced radio frequency technologies across a range of applications, including 5G smartphones, wireless connectivity, automotive radar and aerospace.
“We are proud to deepen our strategic partnership with GlobalFoundries, and to expand our important role in the US semiconductor supply chain,” GlobalWafers chairman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) said in the statement. “We look forward to ramping up our 300mm pilot line this year.”
Separately, GlobalWafers yesterday posted revenue of NT$4.81 billion (US$173.63 million) for last month, up 10.9 percent from NT$4.33 billion in May last year. That represented a monthly decline of 3.8 percent from NT$5 billion.
During the first five months of this year, GlobalWafers accumulated revenue of NT$24.61 billion, climbing 11.08 percent year-on-year from NT$22.15 billion.
GlobalWafers shares yesterday in Taipei rose 1.17 percent to close at NT$862, the highest since April 29.
Sweeping policy changes under US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr are having a chilling effect on vaccine makers as anti-vaccine rhetoric has turned into concrete changes in inoculation schedules and recommendations, investors and executives said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has in the past year upended vaccine recommendations, with the country last month ending its longstanding guidance that all children receive inoculations against flu, hepatitis A and other diseases. The unprecedented changes have led to diminished vaccine usage, hurt the investment case for some biotechs, and created a drag that would likely dent revenues and
Macronix International Co (旺宏), the world’s biggest NOR flash memory supplier, yesterday said it would spend NT$22 billion (US$699.1 million) on capacity expansion this year to increase its production of mid-to-low-density memory chips as the world’s major memorychip suppliers are phasing out the market. The company said its planned capital expenditures are about 11 times higher than the NT$1.8 billion it spent on new facilities and equipment last year. A majority of this year’s outlay would be allocated to step up capacity of multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory chips, which are used in embedded multimedia cards (eMMC), a managed
CULPRITS: Factors that affected the slip included falling global crude oil prices, wait-and-see consumer attitudes due to US tariffs and a different Lunar New Year holiday schedule Taiwan’s retail sales ended a nine-year growth streak last year, slipping 0.2 percent from a year earlier as uncertainty over US tariff policies affected demand for durable goods, data released on Friday by the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed. Last year’s retail sales totaled NT$4.84 trillion (US$153.27 billion), down about NT$9.5 billion, or 0.2 percent, from 2024. Despite the decline, the figure was still the second-highest annual sales total on record. Ministry statistics department deputy head Chen Yu-fang (陳玉芳) said sales of cars, motorcycles and related products, which accounted for 17.4 percent of total retail rales last year, fell NT$68.1 billion, or
In the wake of strong global demand for AI applications, Taiwan’s export-oriented economy accelerated with the composite index of economic indicators flashing the first “red” light in December for one year, indicating the economy is in booming mode, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Moreover, the index of leading indicators, which gauges the potential state of the economy over the next six months, also moved higher in December amid growing optimism over the outlook, the NDC said. In December, the index of economic indicators rose one point from a month earlier to 38, at the lower end of the “red” light.
RSS