Taiwanese semiconductor companies should deepen their partnerships with US and European companies to make an impact on the world’s supply chains amid a heightened technology dispute between the US and China, Lu Ming-kuang (盧明光), a director at GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓) said on Wednesday.
Lu is a former chairman of GlobalWafers’ parent company, Sino-American Silicon Products Inc (SAS, 中美矽晶).
He said in Hsinchu that he does not agree with Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (中芯) founder Richard Chang’s (張汝京) suggestion that Taiwan partner with China to tap into its massive semiconductor market.
Photo: Grace Hung, Taipei Times
Chang joined Shanghai-based GTA Semiconductor Co (積塔半導體) last year and serves as a director at the chipmaker.
“Chang has spent most of his time in China, so it makes sense for him to make such comments. However, I might not accept what he said, from the point of view of a patriot,” Lu told reporters on the sidelines of an event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Industrial Technology Research Institute.
Beijing has spent lavishly on developing its semiconductor industry over the past few years, but still could not build a solid foundation, Lu said.
The US semiconductor export curbs on China would further put a drag on its progress to advance its technological capabilities to the next generation, he said.
However, China still has a chance to grow in other areas, given huge government funding and its sizeable semiconductor market, he added.
Taiwanese companies should seek to work together with US and European partners to address those markets, Lu said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) sets a good example, he said.
Taiwanese companies would likely have greater influence over the global supply chain with manufacturing expansion in the US, Germany and Japan, he added.
Following TSMC’s lead, GlobalWafers, the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, plans to invest US$5 billion on a new 12-inch fab in Texas, Lu said.
The fab would be the latest single fab with an installed capacity of 1.2 million wafers a month, he said.
The fab is scheduled to start operations in 2025, GlobalWafers said.
Asked if China’s latest restrictions on exports of semiconductor materials, including gallium and germanium, to retaliate against the US, would affect the company, Lu said GlobalWafers and SAS would continue to see quarterly and annual revenue growth each quarter, implying that the effects would be minimal.
GlobalWafers yesterday reported revenue of NT$6.31 billion (US$202.1 million) for last month, the best performance since March.
That represented a monthly growth of 5.85 percent and an annual increase of 1.06 percent.
However, second-quarter revenue contracted 3.87 percent from the previous quarter to NT$17.9 billion, ending 13 quarters of growth.
The company attributed the decline to the effects of geopolitical risks and a volatile macroeconomy.
SAS, which makes solar cells and modules, reported that revenue last month expanded 7.49 percent month-on-month to NT$7.19 billion. That brought its second-quarter revenue to NT$20.32 billion, down 2.8 percent from the first quarter.
Revenue from solar products increased 3.93 percent sequentially during the three-month quarter to last month.
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