Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer specializing in artificial-intelligence (AI) chips, yesterday said that small-volume production of 3-nanometer (nm) chips for a key customer is on track to start by the end of this year, dismissing speculation about delays in producing advanced chips.
As Alchip is transitioning from 7-nanometer and 5-nanometer process technology to 3 nanometers, investors and shareholders have been closely monitoring whether the company is navigating through such transition smoothly.
“We are proceeding well in [building] this generation [of chips]. It appears to me that no revision will be required. We have achieved success in designing the chip,” Alchip CEO Johnny Shen (沈翔霖) said in response to a shareholder’s question about its 3-nanometer chip progress during the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting.
Photo: Lisa Wang, Taipei Times
“Volume production will be on schedule. We expect to start small-volume production at the end of the year, before ramping up to a significant volume next year,” Shen said. “This 3-nanometer chip is for a major customer.”
Total orders for 3-nanometer chips from the customer would exceed that for 7-nanometer chips, Shen said.
That bodes well for the company’s revenue next year, when it ramps up production of the chip given the dramatic rise in average selling prices for 3-nanometer chips.
Alchip made about US$1.6 billion in revenue through the whole lifecycle of the 7-nanometer chip from design to mass production, it said.
Alchip is reportedly designing the new 3-nanometer chip, called Trainium 3, for Amazon Web Services. Alchip customizes chips for customers and also serves as a coordinator for customers to produce chips at foundry service providers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電).
With 3-nanometer chips ready to be shipped, Alchip has started development of 2-nanometer chips, Shen said.
Building on its success in offering 3-nanometer chip design services, the company is confident about providing 2-nanometer chips to the same customers, he told investors earlier this month.
“This is a must-win [project],” Shen said yesterday.
The company’s research-and-development efforts are to extend to new-generation AI chips and advanced packaging technologies, including 2.5-dimension and 3-dimension technologies, Shen said.
The firm has helped customers secure capacities for advanced packaging technology, or chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS).
The company’s shareholders yesterday approved a proposal to distribute a record-high cash dividend of NT$40.05 per share.
That represented a payout ratio of 49 percent based on the company’s earnings per share of NT$81.34 last year.
Shareholders also gave the green light to a proposal to issue 1.5 million common shares through a private placement, as Alchip aims to introduce strategic partners and strengthen its long-term cooperation with existing partners.
Last year, Amazon.com Inc subscribed to 224,537 shares, or 0.28 percent, of Alchip for NT$535 million through a private placement.
The company’s board of directors yesterday elected Alchip CEO Johnny Shen as the company’s new chairman and re-elected Alchip CFO Daniel Wang and Herbert Chang (張國威), General Partner of GrowStar Partners Group Limited), as board directors.
While, 4 new independent directors were added to the chip company's 7-member board including Jerry Tzou (鄒覺倫), Director in Advanced Packaging Business Development of TSMC, Andrew Kuo (郭明鑑), Chairman of Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行), Derek Tien (田至元 ), Managing Director of GIC Private Ltd, Saria Tseng (曾馨嫻), Vice President and General Counsel & Corporate Secretary of MaXXan Systems Inc.
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