GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s third-largest silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said it did not receive any notification from the US CHIPS Program Office regarding potential changes to funding conditions for the firm’s two new fabs under construction in the US.
The company’s remarks came amid speculation that US President Donald Trump is to review the CHIPS and Science Act subsidy requirements.
During his presidential campaign last year, Trump criticized the CHIPS Act and has said he favors tariffs over subsidies to promote the construction of manufacturing facilities in the US.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
“We are not notified to review [the conditions] or to make any adjustments,” GlobalWafers chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) told reporters during an annual media gathering in Hsinchu. “Our strategy is to go global and provide locally made wafers to our customers. If we were really impacted by this, we will have to recalculate before making further investments.”
GlobalWafers would be well-positioned to offset any policy changes or potential tariffs by the US government than other semiconductor firms, given its diversification of manufacturing sites, including in the US, Hsu said.
Since 2022, GlobalWafers has invested in capacity expansion in the US, she said, adding that there were no plans to alter the investment project for the time being.
The company’s goal is to supply locally made wafers to foundry companies and chip designers in the US, which is in line with the US government’s policy, she said.
GlobalWafers expects the US Department of Commerce to disburse the first batch of funding later this year.
The company in December last year said that it would receive US$406 million in subsidies from the US government for two new US fabs under the act.
The grant represents 10 percent of the planned investments of US$4 billion in an advanced 12-inch silicon wafer manufacturing facility in Texas and a 12-inch silicon-on-insulator wafer plant in Missouri.
Those two factories are “essential” to bring chip manufacturing back to the US, Hsu said, citing US media reports.
The Texas fab is to start shipping wafers next quarter at the earliest, she said.
GlobalWafers yesterday also gave its outlook for this year.
“The first quarter would be the bottom. A more marked recovery should be seen in the second half of this year and a more brisk recovery in 2026 based on messages from multiple customers,” Hsu said, adding that demand for advanced silicon wafers is healthy this quarter.
The company expects a recovery for the rest of this year, Hsu said.
This year as a whole would be better than last year, she said.
Last year, GlobalWafers’ revenue declined 11.36 percent to NT$62.63 billion (US$1.91 billion) from NT$70.65 billion a year earlier, attributable to inventory correction and soft demand.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
Gasoline and diesel prices at domestic fuel stations are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, down for a second consecutive week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to drop to NT$26.4, NT$27.9 and NT$29.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to fall to NT$24.8 per liter at CPC stations and NT$24.6 at Formosa pumps, they said. The price adjustments came even as international crude oil prices rose last week, as traders
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
POWERING UP: PSUs for AI servers made up about 50% of Delta’s total server PSU revenue during the first three quarters of last year, the company said Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) reported record-high revenue of NT$161.61 billion (US$5.11 billion) for last quarter and said it remains positive about this quarter. Last quarter’s figure was up 7.6 percent from the previous quarter and 41.51 percent higher than a year earlier, and largely in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$160 billion. Delta’s annual revenue last year rose 31.76 percent year-on-year to NT$554.89 billion, also a record high for the company. Its strong performance reflected continued demand for high-performance power solutions and advanced liquid-cooling products used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers,
RSS