A meeting last week between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) and Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) is believed by some analysts to indicate that the chipmaker is planning to build a 2-nanometer fabrication plant in the city.
Accompanied by three TSMC vice presidents — Wang Ying-lang (王英郎) of fab operations, Arthur Chuang (莊子壽) of the facility division and Jonathan Lee (李俊賢) of corporate planning — Wei met with Lu and a team of top city officials on Friday, the city government said in a statement on Saturday.
Lu expressed that hope that TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, could build plants in Taichung and help boost the city’s economic development, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Taichung City Government
ENVIRONMENT
The statement quoted Wei as saying that Taichung’s climate and location are excellent, while its numerous schools, malls and hospitals attract talent to settle and work there, making the city a good place for the company to expand its manufacturing capacity.
Lu praised the city’s “favorable investment environment,” telling TSMC officials that since she took office three years ago, a number of companies have invested in the city, such as the second-phase expansion of the Mitsui Outlet Park at the Port of Taichung and the construction of the Lalaport shopping center operated by the Mitsui brand, as well as several offshore wind power projects, the statement said.
The central government’s “Invest in Taiwan” initiative has attracted 231 companies to Taichung, creating more than 21,000 local jobs, Lu added.
On Saturday, TSMC told the Central News Agency that the company has a wafer plant in Taichung and Wei paid a courtesy visit to the city government.
However, analysts have said that there was no precedent for the CEO to visit the local government where its production facility is located.
SPECULATION
Considering the management team members who attended the meeting, analysts have speculated that the visit had something to do with the company’s plan to expand production capacity at its 2-nanometer fab in Taichung.
After it scaled up production of its 5-nanometer chips last year, TSMC said that it would begin mass producing 3-nanometer chips in the second half of next and 2-nanometer chips in 2025.
A company source familiar with the matter said that TSMC plans to develop a plot of land in Hsinchu’s Baoshan Township (寶山), which would include a 2-nanometer fab.
However, the plot is not big enough to allow the company to expand its production facilities, so TSMC management might be seeking a new lot on which to build another factory in Taichung, the source said.
Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) today unveiled a long-haul network expansion plan at a shareholders’ meeting in Taipei, including direct flights to Barcelona, Spain, and Zurich, Switzerland, as well as a service connecting Taipei, Sydney and New Zealand. Starlux is to become the first Taiwanese carrier to offer non-stop services to the two European cities, while the inaugural oceanic route is expected to expand transit opportunities within the Australia-New Zealand market, Starlux said. Flight services to Chicago, Dallas, Washington and New York are under evaluation, the airline added. Prior to the shareholders’ meeting, the airline earlier this year announced that it would be
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Nvidia Corp yesterday announced that CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) would attend an employee meeting in Taipei tomorrow to celebrate the launch of the company’s Taiwan headquarters project. Huang would attend a gathering at the site of Nvidia’s planned headquarters in Beitou Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區), the company said in a statement. After arriving in Taiwan on Saturday last week, Huang told reporters that he plans to meet with Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), and would attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Nvidia’s Taiwan headquarters tomorrow. Nvidia has not yet applied
RSS