Manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is planning to launch commercial production of microcontrollers (MCUs) and power management chips used for auto production in 2024.
At an investors’ conference on Thursday at the Taiwan Stock Exchange in Taipei, Hon Hai spokesman James Wu (巫俊毅) said that the mass production of MCUs and power management chips is part of the company’s efforts to develop key IC components for electric vehicle (EV) use.
In addition, Hon Hai aims to start mass production of silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors for EV charging use next year, Wu said.
In 2024, the company aims to start commercial production of optical phased array in light detection and ranging for self-driving, as well as SiC power modules for inverters in vehicles, he said.
To avoid a supply shortage of smaller ICs, which have played an important role in automotive electronics, Wu said that Hon Hai plans to mass produce 6-inch and 8-inch wafers next year, while commercial production of 6-inch SiC wafers are also scheduled to begin next year.
Hon Hai has promoted a “3 plus 3” initiative in the past few years to expand from contract manufacturing into hardware and software integration.
The development of EVs is central to the initiative, as it is building an EV supply chain.
The “3 plus 3” initiative refers to three emerging industries — EVs, robots and digital healthcare — that are being developed through the application of artificial intelligence, semiconductors and communications technologies.
Hon Hai has an 8-inch wafer fab, while it acquired a 6-inch wafer fab from Macronix International Co (旺宏電子) in August last year.
In addition, the company has since last year been working with Yageo Corp (國巨), the world’s third-largest multilayer ceramic capacitor supplier, to set up a joint venture in Hsinchu to manufacture smaller semiconductors such as analog ICs, which cost less than US$2 per unit.
In May, Malaysia-based investment holding firm Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNeX) announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Hon Hai to build a wafer fab in the Southeast Asian country.
Meanwhile, Wu said that Hon Hai has faith that it would report better-than-expected results for the second quarter of this year after its consolidated sales for the April-to-June period rose 11 percent from a year earlier to NT$1.51 trillion (US$50.47 billion), exceeding its forecast that second-quarter revenue would not change much from a year earlier.
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