GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said it has formed a new partnership with Apple Inc to supply 300mm silicon wafers from its new factories in the US as Apple accelerates its efforts to boost the US semiconductor manufacturing supply chain.
The announcement followed Apple’s pledge of US$100 billion in new investments in the US over the next four years, dedicated to bringing more of Apple’s supply chain and advanced manufacturing to the country. That raised Apple’s total US investment to US$600 billion.
Apple is partnering with GlobalWafers America (GWA), a US subsidiary of GlobalWafers, in Sherman, Texas, to produce advanced wafers for use in US-based semiconductor fabs for the first time.
Photo courtesy of GlobalWafers Co
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (台積電) fabs in Phoenix, Arizona, and Texas Instruments Inc’s fabs in Sherman would use GWA’s 300mm wafers to produce chips for iPhones and iPads sold in the US and around the world, Apple said.
“Over the past 30 years advanced silicon wafer production all but left America for lower-cost manufacturing hubs. Our new partnership with Apple, America’s most important end-user of silicon, is a powerful market signal that the entire semiconductor supply chain is now back in the US in full force,” GlobalWafers president Mark England said in a statement.
GlobalWafers’ new wafer manufacturing facilities in Texas would be eligible for an advanced manufacturing investment tax credit of up to 35 percent, the statement said.
The firm is the only manufacturer of advanced 300mm wafers to participate in US President Donald Trump’s “CHIPS for America” program.
Shares in GlobalWafers surged 9.97 percent yesterday to NT$375 following the announcement.
GlobalWafers in May said it planned to invest US$4 billion in advanced 300mm wafers in Sherman. The new investment commitment would bring the firm’s total investment in the US to US$7.5 billion.
GlobalWafers earlier this week said that the company would consider bringing forward the next phase of capacity expansion in the US based on the demand profile of its US customers.
The company’s first new plant in Texas is scheduled to begin high-volume production in the second half of this year, it said.
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